New-York tribune., 1902-08-04

holidays than
loirI-s - - =. tho Union Railway takes all OF the
Measure from their trips The "HucklenerI9 -,
road as il IS known in the territory 'iioU7' -:
- masses has a reputation Tor Irailcilo0 80
but IL mas evidently not kept pace WIN - . .,a
- ,1e traffic in westchester County anu IL. @
,,.,,,, % The Bronx which has now reacheu the
enormous figure of S2.0Oo0oo Of passengers -
Its facilities are woefully inadequate - -, 60
the big rushes which occur on the oa'Ui u"' :
a.vs and HOLIDAYS Of the warm summer hoi'ii0
r., ,,+izors along the lines have held mass meet
,,ge written innumerable communications 10 tle
local newspapers and some Of the more "oiiN.
have storrned and sworn but the aglta1loh seei :"
have had no effect A..
=. .. generally supposed by many people that
.ba counanv so thoroughly controlled the authorl-
ties in the towns and cities in WestchesteF CoutS
that the only relief that could come "ouIo Oe
.,,rougb the State Railroad Commissioners. but a
statement made yesterday by the presloeht OF 'Ie
road Edward a Maher. puts a different light on
this Mr. Maher Is spending the summer at 'he
victoria Hotel in Larchmont He says that MS
company has been hampered by the local euthori-
ties and that if it could get the franchises 1t was
seeking II could double track its road and make
many loops in westchester County which would
greatly relieve the congestion at Mount vernon
Yonkers New-Rochelle Glen Island and other
-,oiuts Mr. Maher says that plans are under way
"a build some Ct the loops and additional tracks
,.-.-a franchises have been granted. and that the
connnanv is about to make application for addi-
tionai routes In Mount Vernon, Pelham Manor ana
Tonkers.
GREAT CROWDS VISIT THESE SUBURBS
The cheap five cent fare that the company olIers
e the means of inducing enormously increasing
number of people to visit Westchester County Inc
a-s are usually well filled at the beginning OF the
+rI,s at 0ne-huudred- ninth-st. ana De-
fore they are beyond the limits of The Bronx al OF
the seats and asles are jamned with people IN
this uncomfortable position the passengers ride 10
Mount Vernon. where they change cars for New
poo helie Is another change
for Glen Island Hudson Park or Larchmont ana
the beaches at Rye and Oakland.
The croIding and inconvenience Of changing cars
So many times on the way to the resorts and
beaches is not to be compared with the big rushes
which occur in the evening On going out from me
city IN the morning the people generally rested
and filed with anticipations OF pleasure ana they
90 not mind being squeezed little or shunted
about It is when the crowds are coming back
home tired out that the exciting scenes are to be
---,tnessed at Glen Island. New-Rochelle. Mount
Vernon and other congested terminal points Inc
crush resembles that at the entrance TO the brooR-
Iyn Bridge II anything It is worse, because people
sometimes have to wait for hours before they can
obtain seat in the for the long ride back to
this city
There has been scarcely Sunday or holiday
this summer that one has not been injured by
being dragged and trampled on in the mad rushes
10 obtain seats. In several instances in Mount
,ernon where the lam the greatest. people nave
been hurt so badly that they have been taken to
the hospital and the court calendars OF Nestches-
ter County are filed with damage suits against the
company In the rush Of Sunday Of last week
how Was knocked down in First-st-, in Mount
Vernon and had his teeth kicked down his throat
On tie same day woman fell on the back OF her
head and was carried unconscious into a nearby
building Other women caught IN the rushes nave
been squeezed and trampled upon until they have
tainted and fallen unconscious in the streets
-,CHANGE CARS RESPONSIBLE FOR JAM.
The blame for the crushes in Mount Vernon and
NeU-Rochelle is undoubtedly with the system of
dumping every one of the cars in those cities
and compelling them TO change, instead Of running
through cars from One-hundred-and-twenty ninth
st 20 Glen Island, Larchmont, Hastings and other
ends Of the road. The people not familiar
with the routes, and the changes confuse them
It Is q frequent sight in First-st, in Mount Yer
non 10 see a crowd of hundred or more people.
women and small children included, running wildly
through the streets clinging to the moving cars
q, +heir eaeerness to get seats. While the crowd
IS struggling TO get OF the the other in the
street is fighting to get in Women without es-
corts OF with children 10 watch over have no
chance whatever 10 get seats IN these rush hours.
They are brushed aside and trampied on by men,
and are usually compelled 10 sit the steps OF
some OF the neighboring buildings until the crowd
shins out which may not be for several hours This
was the condition last summer, but, fortunately,
this year weather has been cool and the crowds
have been smaller On the few hot days this year,
however. the janming has been greater than ever
before showing what IS bound to occur II the
weather warns up in August and September.
The confusion in Mount Vernon is so great that it
requires almost half of the police Of the city to
keen the people from being killed and 20 look out
for piclpockets who Infest the overcrowded cars.
What surprises every is that there is not
some one killed every Sunday
An idea Of the harvest reaped in these rushes by
,niclzpockets may be had from incident which
happened at West Farms. and which was told 10
Tribune reporter by employe OF the company.
One Sunday late last summer the waste pipe in
The toilet room at West Farms trolley station be-
came clogged, and plumber went to repair H. The
man removed sixteen empty purses and wallets
which had been choking the pipe. They had been
rifed and thrown into the sinks by pickpockets-
SINGLE TRACKS GREAT DRAWBACK.
Mr. Maher says in defence OF the overcrowding
that Il Is no worse than it is at Coney Island
broadway in the rush hours he says that the
principal difficulty the company has to contend
with is that it has only single track in most
rarts Of Westchester County. II it had double
tracks between Mount Vernon. New-RochelIe and
Yonkers he says. it could maintain a much bet
ter schedule although he thinks there will always
be some crowding Sunday, that day and
on holidays every one rushes 70 the country
Mr. Maher continued: "Our company is willing
and anxious double track every foot of the lines
It owns. and would do at if it could get
the necessary franchises. One of the first exten-
sions the company viii endeavor TO complete will
be the continuation of the Webster-ave line which
now runs Woodlawn. in The Bronx To w.
Mount Vernon and Yonkers. This line CONNECTS
with the Manhattan elevated road at Fordhan and
that company has promised 10 add more ernreso
trains TO accommodate the increased traffic fro,,
Mount Vernon and Yonkers as soon as We 60
make the connection. The only franchise we sba,,
require for this line will be permission from the ci,
Of Mount Vernon 10 lay an additional track on
cation for the additional track in few days and
II IL is granted we shall have the line running h
September: The company Will also make applIcas