Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-10
The Fight for Car Service.
itor of The Evening Star:

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
The various statements and phases of the
local problem of the accommodations of
the street car systems start even the
youngest members of the Oldest Inhab-
itants' Association into a reminiscent
mood. Like the poor, the street car prob
lem is ever with u.s.
Not many realize that once to purchase
tWenty-four tickets for a dollar YOU paid
5 cents to get to the main office of the
company, when, after carefully inspecting
your greenback, a grave and venerable gen
tleman would in exchange give you pack
age, carefully fastened with rubber band.
of twenty-four ancient tickets, one of
which carried you toward your home. This
was considered a step forward, but for a
long time if you did not have an assert
ment of tickets, and put the wrong ticket
in the box of the other line. it did not
count for a ride, and would cost you two
rides to redeem and an affidavit that you
were the identical stranger who had made
the drop.
These tickets. for the need of economy,
were used over and over again, until the
spoiled residents made protest; but it
DRY of contagion, to induce the car COM
panies to use only freSh-printed tickets,
and also to accept the ticket Of the other
line for a fare.
Some may recall the good old days of the
14th street line. 1t was considered by en-
terprising men that 18th street would some
time have a future, and they were rather
jubilant over their prophecies when a single
track was established to Boundary street,
with sing1e-horse cars and one driver, the
passengers personally conducting their
own trips
One of the drivers was poet, poet
lariat," I suppose, as he would put sense
and rhyme into every incident or to every
word tossed at him. The children used to
ride by the driver and talk about his horse,
and they knew the name and characters
i Lnr fIo
connmodating the drivers were, They
STOPPED anywhere for you, let you get off
and on to mail a letter or buy bunch Of
cigars one of which could be gracefully,
and with the approval of even the 18th
street minister, openly put in the drivers
pocket.
Sometimes a driver would miss switch,
and every man, encouraged by the lady
passengers, would put shoulder to the
work and lift the car, horse and all, to one
side and back again.
But mankind is never satisfied. There
came to be more men and women on 14th
street and a great lot of children, and the
little bob-tailed car and horse were made
quate for the amount of traffic put upon
them. Finally the residents in that neigh
borhood appointed committee OF gentle
men to state the case to the company,
which they did. They were told that the
company was running that suburban line
at quite an annual loss, in spite OF all
methods Of economy. 1t would be very ex-
pensive to add more cars, as this would
increase the need of more switches and
even force them to lay double track.
which would be only covered by empty
cars half the time; that there had been
rumors that the circle at Massachusetts
avenue was to be laid out and planted with
grass, which would involve the company
in the necessity of an expensive double
track around it. In fact. the company was
poor-'almighty poor; why, just look at
our horSeSi"
The committee returned and stated the