The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1905-02-05
he Road TO Alexandra.

day truly a day Of rest. For this one.
day they are secure in warm rooms,
swept and ciean. with elbow room for
everyb body Tomorrow, the old hor
rors will all be revived; tomorrow
they must cling to platforms or
brace themselves in aisles; tomorrow
they may ruin all their clothes and
freeze to death. But. today they can
stay at home, and. SO the undulating
right of way which passes for mode
Of conveyance to Washington has no
terrors-for today.
| Business men in Washington have
wondered for a long time at the man
agement which would make a car line
an object of dismay to all its patrons.
For, strong as the phrase is, the
Washington, Alexandria and Mt.
Vernon railway is an object of dismay
to all its regular patrons, and this
picture Of Alexandrians happy in the
escape from a ride to Washington is
genuine, not fancifui. The pleasanter
the ride the more the custom-this is
the first teaching of railroad expert
enee. The second teaching is: the
better the facilities the quicker the
growth Of the community and 50, in
the end, still more custom and larger
profits. The road to Alexandria seems
to have been run on the principle CT
sandbagging the helpless.
If this appraisement of the Wash
5.1er dv,n
/ management seems extreme, let the
readers Of The Times review the tes-
timony reported in our issues of the
! past week as offered to the Virginia
State railroad commission. There is
nothing indefinite about it, A wise
law requires that in Virginia every
complaint filed before the commits
sion must be cireumstantial, and,
meeting all the requirements Of that
law as to dates and places. reputable
citizens of Alexandria have filed with
!, the commission these extraordinary
petitions:
/ First-That ten new motor cars be pur-
lchased before August. 1905.
| Second-That double track be laid be-
fore July /, 1865
/ Third-That heating apparatus be put
in within ten days, and that at least
i ten aTnpereS be put IN cars.
Fourtk-That the roadbed should be
repaired.
i F1fth-That the company get mod
ern sweeper.
), Sixth-fhat lamps be carried on cars
to replace those broken.
Seventh-That a penalty be imposed
for violation of orders
To sustain these petitions these
| lii
assertion of cranks, but the testimony
of an electrical expert that the power
plant can move sufficient number of
cars and heat thel1 all; the testimony
OF a machinist that motors and cars
are sadly neglected." the testimony
Of the rector Of a seminary, a mer-
chant, a school teacher, and half
! dozen professional men, that the cars
are regularly overcrowded.
/ But worse than all this, worse than
has known since horse cars were
superseded, is the testimony of trust
. worthy citizens Of every class that
! the cars are not even half heated. It
is established beyond any question
that they are not heated at ali.
Let Washington think Of that-of
six-mile trip early every morning and
late every evening; of crossing the
Potomac Flats with the wind whistling
in from the river and the mercury
standing pat at four Or five degrees
above zero; OF standing in dirty cars,
and not even the mild heaters Of the
modern electric car at work! No
wonder these people protest in earn
est. The wonder is that they have
not gone to court.
It is reassuring to think that
} relief is in sight. The presi-
dent Of the road is reported in
/ last nights paper as promising to
spend $500, 900 On extensive improve
ments in short time" While the
commuters are waiting for that short
time" to elapse, it is likely the rail-
road commission will take a hand
No commission could ignore the tes-
timony 1t has heard.
But to make assurance doubly sure,
the railroad furnished the commits
sioners with some unexpected evil
dence. The commission put the road
to the practical test of coming to
I Washington on one OF It's regular
trains. When the cars crossed Long
bridge they broke down The rail-
way company was quick I'd send cabs
for the commissioners, but the regu-
lar patrons had to walk, and it is q
moral certainty that no cabs could
blind the commissioners to that high
ly significant fact
! There is one point more. The
president Of this road has asserted
that last year the road did pay a
i dividend in order to make showing