The times., 1901-05-07
AFFAIRS OF THE DISTRICT
A Complaint Against the Railways
for Crowded Cars.
"A Passenger Vividiy Describes the
Street Crossings of the Washing
ton Service-The Transfer System
A Statement Relative to n Tax Sale

sioners the copy of a letter which he has
written to George H. Harries, Vice Presi-
f, dent of the Washington Traction and
Electric Company, complaining of unfair
| treatment at the hands of the Metropoli-
tan Railway Company. In part, Mr.. Rey-
| nolds says:
| Yesterday Sunday at 7:3O p. m, togeth-
! er with my wife and children l was elected
| from your car, No. 707 Georgetown only)
at c and North Capitol Streets / do
not blame your conductor for / feel that
he is trying to serve the public and follow
orders, and he was as courteous as could
be expected, but / think it an outrage
nevertheless.
We were transferred from North Capt.
tol Street to East Washington at First
and G Streets. We waited for a car for
fully an hour, and in this time three
East Washington cars passed, each one
so full that there was not standing room
on the running board so you see it was
impossible for us to get on. AS there was
not another car in sight, / went to c
Street and there boarded one of the long
yellow cars. The conductor refused to
take the transfers and stopped the car
and ordered us off We then walked the
rest of the way home, and got nearly to
Ninth Street before a c Street car over
took us.
Now, sir, l think it is shame that
line of cars should be run, day after day,
az such long intervals that every car is
crowded to overlooking. 1 have often seen
your cars wait for a long time, appar-
emily for load before starting on their
journey
Your different lines are advertised to
be under one management The North
10
East Capitol Street cars if they happen
to be so punched. If a person waits an
hour without being able to get car, and
then walks a block or two, and gets on
another branch of cars, he has to again
pay his fare. Ii he walks a block along
the proper line and gets on car, he is
informed that he will have to so back to
the street indicated on the transfer in
order for it to be good. l think, in
few years more, if the improvements
keen on, one win be obliged to have his
signature, with a witness, photograph,
age, residence, and his family history at
tached to a transfer in order TO make IT
receivable on another branch OF the same
system of street cars indeed II IS now
rapidly approaching that state of affairs
One now needs a Philadelphia lawyer with
a couple of guides to tell what you are
doing, or where the cars are going.
W
West of having an ideal street car Sys-
TEN, and | think the cars on East Capt.
tol Street approach ii as nearly as possl-
BILE. But, from my experience, the street
car lines in Chicago with the poorest ac-
commodations are no worse than the cars
which run on g Street. | have long ago
quit trying to use them except when IL IS
unavoidable. ] would much rather walk
if l am alone And the conductors are
not as a rule as courteous as they are
on most of the other lines. One of them
one day very much annoyed young lady
visiting us, by insisting on conYerslng
with her on private matters, asking her
where she lived, and, among other things,
where she bought her butter.
Another thing very erratic is your
method of giving transfers. If a person
happens to ride couple of blocks before
asking for a transfer, IT Is refused For
example, shortly after the rule went INTO
effect one day / paid my fare and waited
for the conductor TO go through the car
before asking for a transfer, as had been
the custom tand as some of them do yet).
When ne returned ! asked for a transfer
and he refused 1t, calling my attention TO
the rule that transfers were given only
at the time of paying fare, although ne
had not asked me If l wished transfer.
One evening last fall, when Congress nrSt
met | boarded car at II and Fourteenth
Streets which had before been accuS-
toned to going through to the barns on
East Capitol Street. The conductor asked
me ii / wished d transfer and / said no.
The car stopped, however, at the Capitol,
and ! then asked for transfer and it
was refused. Another evening / got on
q car plainly carded Capitol and Library
and took a transfer TO East Capitol Street
The car took me out east Street in
stead
You also seem to have no emergency
transfers. One day last winter, when
there was so much snow, out of four
rides / was on three breakdowns, before |
had gone a fourth of my journey. and
had TO get off and walk"
Ralston & Siddons, acting as attorneys
for ]. Stanley Brown, recently requested |
the sale of part Of lot .. S. P. Browns !
on April Is, 1895, for water
main assessment be Cancelled. In the |
statement submitted by the attorneys |
appears the following:
In June, 1892, the heirs of one John l.. |
Brown, including among their number ]. |
Stanley Brown. were the owners of the |
described portion of lot % in
S. P. Browns subdivision of part OF |
Pleasant Plains:
Beginning 96.05 feet from the south |
west corner of lot 49, running thence east |
81 feet on Sheridan Avenue to the part |
sold to Bloss thence north 175 feet to /
Howard Avenue; thence westerly on |
Howard Avenue "a feet, and south 175 |
feet TO the beginning.
poses of taxation in the name of John L.
Brown, and as the east 81 feet of lot 29 |
etc. Under date of June 30, 1892, notice
was issued from the special assessment |
division, addressed to John l.. Brown, /
If a tax for water main, laid |
June 10. 1892. Service of this notice was
lot made on the heirs at law of Mr.
Brown, but on Redford w Walker. agent
.or Harriet Abbott, described in the re-
urn of service by the inspector as the
hen present owner OF the property. Mrs
Abbott was not then, nor has she ever !
leen the owner of the property. Under |
late of April 10, 1893, the property being |
till assessed in the name of John L. |
Brown, was sold for this water main
AK or a portion OF it, to the aforesaid |
isement Cf the sale erroneuusly described |
he property as the east 45 feet of said |
OF e. In due course tax sale certificate |
vas issued 10 the purchaser, but no deed |
las ever been called for by her or any
me else, so far as we know. Mrs. Alb
Dott, who was nonresident is now
lead, but we do not know who her heirs
Il law or legal representatives, If any,
ire.
1T is obvious from the foregoing state
nent that the tax sale in question was |
wholly invalid, and could not be the
,asis of any title whatsoever, and un-
uestiOnabiY would be so declared by auV
competent tribunal; but the amount in
olved is small, and il would be a hard
hip TO compel the present owner. j.
stanley Brown, to take some legal pro- |
eeding in the courts of the District to
,et rid of this tax sale, If some other |
means of procuring relief, simpler and |
esE expensive, can be found. Hence we |
ppeal TO you t. order a cancellation of |
he tax sale upon your records, upon the |
round that the sale was both irregular
nd void We are Informed that the |