New-York tribune., 1902-12-29
CROWDING BRUTAL
DR.. Mac4rthm' Offers Suggestions
-IlcO .StOlv Cars One.

In d prelude to his sermon last night. at Cal
vary Baptist Church, in West Fifty-seventh-st,
the Rev. Dr. r. S. Macarthur spoke in favor of
reform in the streetcar service in this city and
made several suggestions. He said:
All persons interested in streetcar reform re-
loice that many influential advocates OF TINS re-
nor are h eoiig @ ] 20 tne il their powerfui support
| Now the Mayoralty, the Citizens Union and the
| pulpit. well as many prominent cltlzens NOT NOT
giving it their hearty Endorsement
The conditions both on the elevated and the sur.
only during the rush hours. but to considerable
degree during all the hours OF the & day
the slightest regard for comfort or decency- They
live stock cars before the Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals interfered and stopped
| Notwthstanding the recent public agitation. the
crowding continues greater or less degree dur
ing ali the hours of the day Tired shopgrls are
all classes and conditions subjected to insults
and outrages because of the dsgracefully crowded
1t is humiliating and reproachfu to the intei-
gence of the first city in the Western "oTtG n cn
tinuance will greatly contribute to the argument
control of city authorities The patience of the
public of the city of New-York in this respect has
use of horsecars long after electric cars were in
use in most cities of the country oe tho
lords who manage or lnismanage our pupnc con
veyances. All thoughtful citizens will at once ad-
NIT that the problems which confront them are
diffcrit of solution The fact that city is so
ly at one end of and business places at the other
adds TO the difficulty Of the problem But there
ought to he brains enough possessed by the man
agement to solve all these problems. one cannot cannot
help believing that II 1.-The the ig dba, ~ Ka" s"
ton would not be long delayed.
egisation must be sought and secured The ati-
tude of several organizations lacks aggressive
straphangers. We must secure better conditions.
and also by legislation permanent guarantee of
continued
A number of improvements ought at once to be
First-Motormen ought to be protected by YES;
reasen Gs Gan be ans H4ed gUd or epo to tho
cold Many reasons. not only Of humanity but
nshing them with needed protection 1t Is as
tonishing that the management of our railways
should need eNhortation this point.
Second-Passengers ought never TO be allowed to
Coarse and vulgar men stand some leaning against
the car and some against the railing. while women.
is not nfrequently the case even when there IS
is sitting room inside This vulgar and often
brutal practice is utterly forbidden in Great Brit
be absolutely forbidden in New-fork and in all
Third-Why would it not he practicable. on some
lines at least, to build two stories high? Such
some lines are impossible: but on many lines the
seats in the upper story would be she most popular
them should be the chief aim of the management
II they cannot furnish more cars they ought to
force in the recommendation Of the Merchants
would simply mean that the cars would not take
passengerS when they could not furnish seats
They would simply continue their course and leave
intending passengers I'm the street.
Fourth-There ought be two conductors for
each One conductor will find sufficient work
in starting and stopping the and the other
in collecting the fares and In seating the passen
gers. Without doubt under the one-Conductor sys-
tenn some fares not collected. Passengers
sonally have seek out the conductor make
payment for the privilege of being herded like cat
tie in the crowded cars: some passengers
willing to add this labor to the trials OF being
straphangers.
The time will came when shall look back
upon present brutal methods of Crowding
look back upon the days of the horse
car. with its foul smelling straw and it's dim lights
Fifth-It would seem extremely simple mat
ter to have the passengers all leave the at
end and enter at the other end. If there
side doors the elevated trains in Boston and
some other cities. this rule would work with great
efficiency. Such arrangement would avoid the
crowding inevitable between crowds moving in
opposite directions.
The public is thoroughly aroused this subject
In the interest alike OF comfort and decenCy. 1t de
mandS immediate reform. The legislature will
have rest until needed reforms secured The
companies have valuable franchises from the
city. and they will find it is only the dictates of
common honesty speedily 10 correct the ahomna-
bic evils Of present system.
If the lords do speedily move. without
doubt public opinion all the State will make
itself vigorously felt at Albany that laws
drastic than the companies will welcome, Will
speedily be enacted and enforced