New-York tribune., 1899-07-14
THE TERRIBLE TURNSTILES.
MR. GARDINER IS GOING TO RESCUE THE
PEOPLE FROM THEIR PERNIcToUs
GRASP

Asa Bird Gardiner is a Tammany oniciai ana
there Is not constant reader or an OLD Supscrioer
Of Tho Tribune who does not Know tnat Inc
Tribune is not Tammany organ. The Tribune
has even gone so far or twice, as TO print
something IN the spirit Of criticism concerning
Asa Bird Gardiner himself. That was when Inc
Tribune felt that the District Attorney was wrong.
But this does not prevent The Tribunes recos-
milton OF his unsehsh efforts 10 divert the puonc
at VIGOROUSLY dull season Of the year. by climb
ing over the turnstes and then discoursing learn
edy about them. and letting 1t be known that he
Is going to abolish them with some sort or legal
thunderbolt other.
Mr. Gardeners motives in doing away with the
turnstIles entirely noble. and for the good OF
the public. His opposition to them has nothing 10
do with the recent alleged efforts Of Tammany to
injure tho Manhattan Railway on general prin-
cples Il was thought at time that ram
many officials had discovered absolutely every way
that there TO injure the Manhattan but wheh
they had threat to all of them, they SUDDEN
ly crawled into their hole and now just as the last
edge OF the hole itself is disappearing. Mr.. Gardi-
ner lays his heavy hand. with pressure Oh some
thing over twenty-five pounds, on the turnstiles.
He has various good reasons for what ne says anu
for what he threatens to do. and they show him 10
be bold and persevering man, for X ne carries
out all the principles involved to their logical con-
cusiong ne will have his hands full for some ume'
and he is sure to do this for Is not to be sup
posed that Asa Bird Gardiner having put his hand
to the plough will look back
First among Mr. GARDENERS objections to the
turnstiles, after the opposition to them wh'ch
would inevitably spring from his general righteous
ness ia the principle that the company has no right
to make a passenger work his passage. 1t takes
q nress,1re OF twenty five pounds to turn the turn
stIle Mr. Gardiner says. and the company mas no
right to make any passenger press twenty -"'e
pounds or any pounds. This Is clear enough anu
this makes It look bad for the whole turnstie
business. for clearly the company that operates
baseball ground or a track has no more right
- r,oLe noonIe with tickets work their passage
than the company that operates railway. TO say
that sometimes man is employed to turn the
turnstIle Is only qubble. for what right mas ''e
company even to hire man to WORK the passe"
gers passage? 49,.
Rut this is 2 minor point. Mr.. Gardiner says that
the company has no right 10 delay passenger ho'
not one second, and that the turnstiles 90 oeiay
nasseneers That sounds reasonable. too and after
the District Attorney annihilated the turnsues
OF course he will go up to the Grand Cehtrai o'"
ton and remove those impertnent men VINO stanu
at the doors and delay passengers long enough 10
punch their tickets. 1t Is a much more dreaolul
thing to have to lose your GRIP OF your Dig oas
vour little bag your bandbox, your bundle ana
vour umbrella drop them all on the floor, sort out
your train ticket from your sleeping car ticket ie'
the man punch 1t, and then PICK everything uP
again holding back from seven TO hundred angry
than it Is to press through Il turhsuie' pau
as that is 1t doesn't take twenty-five pounds OF
nressure but II takes tons OF patience. And after
that It will be interesting to consider the iesal
aspects OF the delays to passengers caused py 'he
frequent blocking Of cable and electric cars But II
is positively Of no use to talk about all the ways
Of delaying passengers that Mr.. Gardiner is gong
to prevent There are other Things that nave to NC
printed in this paper.
And Mr. Gardiner says that the company mas no
right to make the passengers spies on It's employees.
Here the highest moral ground Is approached again
II Mr. Gardiner has fault IT is that all his I'M
pulses are so purely moral that they prevent MIN
from being practical. Doubtless he sees to what an
extent this proposition will involve him; but does he
realize how much OF his life II will take to rescue
the public from it's position Of spy for private cor
porations?
For as soon as the case OF the turnses is dis
posed Of Mr. Gardiner must that the register
is removed from every street car In the county OF
New-York That is nothing In the world but
device TO make every passenger detective OF d
spy in the service Of the Metropolitan street RAN
way Company. which gets enough out OF the puo-
lie goodness knows. The register tells the COM
pany how many fares the conductor must account
for and the company impudently requests tile pas
seneers TO see to It that their and each others
fares are rung up, so that 1t may not De chea'eu
by its employees Surely Mr.. Gardiner should attehd
to that And then there are the cash registers
used in shops and restaurants and barrooms and
to go into-places that Tammany Is too pure TO
have ever heard Of. This registers the amount OF
your purchase" says the little placard. What does
the customer care whether 1t registers anything
or not unless he is to be spy for the proprietor?
Oh Mr. Gardiner should have care OF what goes
on in this wicked city.
But the best Of all Mr.. Gardeners good intentions
IS his effort to amuse the people The Mkado tried
that too His object all sublime" was to make
each prisoner pent unwillingy represent source OF
innocent merrment, of innocent merriment." But
Mr.. Gardiner does better than this. He cannot de-
pend the prisoner pent to be amusing. and so he
himself dverts the bystanders by jumping over
turnsties. Even In this he should have a care.
There Is some sort Of law against giving an aero
batc performance without net. Mr. Gardiner
probably has book In his library that will tell
him just what that law is.
Seriously these turnstiles ought to be stopped
They them a good deal more in Brooklyn than
they do in Manhattan. and people who have been
there say that the clothes OF all Brooklyn people
always out first In two narrow lines across
the body, where they press with twenty-five pounds
pressure against the turnstiles. And Mr.. Gardiner
with whatever pressure IS required must stop them