New-York tribune., 1902-12-31

The last degree ANY one
viii testify to the conditions that preVan On an n
have nrevailed for years. we ASH you "a 60
the of1ciaIs OF these roads before you anu Sc s.
me, lIe - har,e been conducting affairs IL rs "
,he power OF this board to co that a. s.S - see
II did not need public hearing tor th se-.ice
zpbether fhey are giving the publc tIs &c -
=. s -srh- to expect The powers of this
hoard are not so ample as those OF me Ieg's =
iatlre but IL should not be necessary ior US u
go that far.
.eT7T-SH HOUR" SERVICE ALL 'DAi-
After Mr. Strong had finished brief outline
90, The conditions of which the public Complains
and had taken his seat, for a moment ho ~
.1s,,,as ready to go on, and Compissioner Coie
a.led rather sharply why the commission hdu
been requested tr sit
.srhe hoard was under the irpressloi'
Colonel Cole that the Merchants AsSO0'a''oi,
was coming before the commissioners 10 pfe~seN' ST.
facts by Witnesses and to make fepi
based 1pon these facts. The board was scai o.i'
prepared to undertake the inquiry III
What we demand" said Chaii niah h,ne' %
.,,o ,To,.,ents. Association committee is the
'ho -, ,o,,r II, the day that we have
during the rush hours. We see no ieasUN !" ~
-,Io,,,a z,o+ have r. We want TO hear the rail-
-, ,s,rer Ms That is what we are
here for
rv,uia-,, II sbepherd then interposed;
..-r,,a r,,,l-oad commissioners can see the CON
,sttto,s for themselves ano the ram of'u -
has tbe authority TO compel a cnahs
commissioners should have an
SIS o1yn experts and then niahe
-io,s 70 +he railroad companies III '"e 'o.'f
q ~ 80 - - neglect TO carry them out, we
have assurances that the ATTORNEY =,
will assume office OH "NA
rres 10 make them
,,. zraro ;s well aware of Its authority and
,,o,rer. colonel Cole replied, "and has neither
r,-,sh nor intention to dodge the issue.
..rb. Manhattan Il is ready TO cooperate
"a. o,r hoard in every way, put In MI
,..rdiner who sat beside Vice-President Skitt-
.s,r,+ a,esn't tell us anything came from
~omay.
gro vou prepared TO testify about the facts
md conditions relative to the sltuauon'
colonel Cole asked Mr.. Gardiner.
we are not prepared at this moment. re-
-;ied Mr. Gardiner after a brief consultation
with Mr. sktt.
Then Francis f. Thurber. Of the Board OF
Trade and Transportation, at the request OF
the hoard gave his opinion on the ques-
.ion AT issue disclairning any authority 10
speak other than g. private citizen Inc way
to settle the difficulty, Mr. Thurber suggested
was for persons vino had grievances 10 SUD-
nit them in writing for the consideration OF
= few practical men. representatives OF tracuoh
companies and of the people Much of the pres
ent difficulty asserted Mr.. Thurber, arose from
the ignorance Of each party to the dispute as
10 the necessities of the other, and could be
avoided by a conference Of few PRACTICAL
men.
Louis A Cuvilier, the next speaker. de-
scribed the evening rush at the bridge, and
said he once saw a woman thrown against a
window and her arm seriously cut He ad-
7ised third track on the elevated system in
Third-aye.. and an express service downtown
from Fffty-ninth-st. to connect with the bridge
trains TO help correct the trouble
r. Fulton Cutting asked the commission to
direct its attention to the downtown crosstown
traffic. where, he said. more cars should be
run to connect with the lines running north
and south
SOME SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS.
Ex-senator John Ford. author OF the Ford
Franchise Tax law, spoke in favor Of municipal
ownership Of railroads. He declared that IN all
cities the population increases faster than the
railroad facilities, and that the only way 10
keep pace with the demand for transportation
is for the municipality to supply the facilities
lie denied that conditions could ever be i'm
proved as long the policy OF the operation
controlled by the dividends to be paid 10
private corporations
Theron g. Strong suggested further hearing
for January L. 1903. He promised that in the
mean time the Merchants Association should be
at the disposal Of the commission, to secure tes-
tiTnony and witnesses. He asked that the com
mission instruct the Manhattan company to
have present on January II its officers and chief
engineer to testify as to transit facilities
2. w Hotenroth of the North Side Board of
Trade. presented these suggestions, which he
said he believed would improve the transporta-
tion TO The Bronx:
An additional station al the City Hall for the
Elevated lines. so that trains may discharge pas
sengers at ore station and receive passengers
at the other.
A third track from Ninth-st. to Fifty -ninth-st
Express trains from City Hall to The Bronx
on the Second-ave. line.
Intertrack stations for the express trains to
prevent delays TO local trains
Improvement in the arrangement Of the tracks
at ne-hundred-and-t twenty -ninth-st.
Cars containing only cross seats.
Sketches and plans embodying those sugges-
tons were presented to the commission.
Colonel Cole announced for the board that
the commissioners did not see anything to be
gained By a lengthy adjournment. and that the
board would go ahead on its own responsibility
and settle the question itself.
Mrs Trautnann asked Il any one could tell
Why some OF the cars were run empty and yet
refused TO stop for passengers. Mr.. Vreeland re-
piled that the ''car ahead" ordinance had ma
terially hampered the company in handling it's
passengers The conditions Mrs. Trautmann
complained Of, he said, were entirely due to that
ordinance.
Officials of the Metropolitan Street Railway
Company declare that the great trouble with the
city's traction service is caused by the way in
which the streets of Manhattan are laid out
With the surface lines. with the elevated
roads, * is said that the great part Of the citys
trouble, since the important traffic Is north
and south is that the frequent streets run