New-York tribune., 1902-12-22
KEEPING UP THE FIGHT
T,ozryerS To Define Duties and Rights
of Transportation Companies.

though Sunday made break in the heavy
--,wds that have been demonstrating the de-
Its of the transportation companies of the
-r there was no breach In the fight for better
s..ysllfnr facilitie- Announcement was made
-, the committee franchises and transporta-
.in of the Merchants Association that this
,,ornine each member of the Bar Association
r-nl receive letter asking his help in forming
committee of one hundred lawyers which shall
-. m find out Just what are the rights and the
sut;es to the city of corporations holding fran
chises from the Municipality
Those interested in the proposed reforms
,,ch IL is generally felt must come in the treat
,,ent Of passengers on surface and elevated
,,ree are greatly encouraged by Governor
oaelrs assurance that he will refer the ques-
-,on Of the rights and obligations of the COM
,snies to the Attorney General for an opinion
and the question of the proper performance Of
che duties OF the companies to the State Rail-
road Commission
The Merchants Association hopes to receive
f-or, President Cantor and Controller Grout
the desired information to the legal rights
and duties OF the companies to-day, and also
"a be able to hold conference with Mayor Low
,o-norrow or Wednesday.
A urorninent member of the Merchants Asso-
ciation said yesterday:
l.
for II is one that affects every We ali
travel on the cars and suffer from the countless
ennoyances and inconveniences of which every
one is complaining and many of have wives
or sisters or daughters who subject to insult
every time they enter crowded
This discussion viii clear UP a number Of
uuestions as to the rights Of the companies. and
VIII force investigation into the proper remedies
sor present conditions. While all realize
that there is a physical limit to the number of
Messengers which can be carried. it is not con-
oeivabe that this limit has been reached.
Take, for example. the subject of making
proper arrangements for passengers to approach
and leave the trains. This is q problem that has
hardly been solved by any transportation COM
psny Of the country. and know Of of the
great railroads that has sent a representative
abroad to study the way in which European
companies meet the problem On the elevated
lines this is of the greatest Importance. Often
trains crowded to the gates, are delayed three
and four minutes at each station while passen-
gers who have been admitted to the platforms
fight TO get on the already oyercrowded cars.
II only the number who can be accommodated
were allowed TO approach the trains. the run
ming time could be vastly improved. Again, the
narrow stairways that LEAD to the platforms
could be improved so that the frequent blocks
during rush hours could be lessened While
there are two stairways and there are crowds
coming up and going down, one should be used
for entrance and the other for exit
''On the surface lines, II the cars are to be
as crowded as they are now, common prudence
demands that there be man on the rear end OF
the car TO start and stop it With the conductor
IN the middle of the collecting fares, 1t is
impossible for him to know when the passen-
gers have got on OF off and countless accidents
occur for this one reason"
An addition to the literature Of the subject
Las been made by a small pamphlet written by
NJ N Forney, a mechanical engineer, Of this
CITY, who says that IL the companies cannot
provide better facilities there should be only
half fare for passengers who stand. He be-
feves that some OF them would even be willing
10 stand all their ride for the sake OF the smaller
fare anc would leave seats for the others; and
he advocates cars without seats TO hold such
srsva