Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-22
ANACOST|A'S APPEAL
Files Request for Better Rail-
way Facilities.
CHANGE OF SCHEDULE
OBJECTIONS MADE TO PLAN CON-
TEMPLATED.
Commissioners Asked to Require Com
pany to Operate More Cars or
Give Through Service.

Not all smooth sailing will be the course
| of the Anacostia and Potomac River Rail-
road Company in the change of schedule
and of car service 1t proposes incident to
| the Commissioners order of June 90 re-
stricting the traffic across the Anacostia
| bridge. This evidenced in a COM
| municaton received by the Commissioners
| today from Eugene f. Thompson, secretary
of the Anacostia Citizens Associa ton. In
this letter the car service afforded residents
| of the section beyond the Eastern branch
| is scorned. and section 6 of the act of Con-
| gress of August /. 1888. relating TO the
| trolley company is quoted, with the SUBJ
! Joined statement that 1.-THE vice president
| of the railroad company may not perhaps
! be aware of it.
Earnest appeal is made to the Commits
| sioners for an order which will render 1t
| incumbent upon the Anscostia and Potomac
| River Railroad Company not only TO elimi-
| nate the shuttle cars, which will be run
across the Anacostia bridge after tomorrow,
and install through service. but to make
| the whole service more nearly the pub
| lie convenience may require
The letter received from Mr. Thompson
| by the Commissioners, dated today, is as
| follows:
Il am directed by the Anacostia Citizens
Association to call 10 the attention of your
honorable board, the inadequate and most
unsatisfactory street car service in
operation between Anacostia and the CEN
| ter of the city. Under the date of June 20
the Commissioners adopted a regulation
limiting the number of passengers to 40
per car crossing the Anacostia bridge which
regulation we believe to be a proper one, as
1t is much better to run two with
light load across the bridge than one car
with a heavy load.
Act Of Congress Quoted.
Only few weeks ago the Commissioners
Informed our committee that NOT
within their power to compel the Anacostia
and Potomac River Railroad Company to
either operate more cars or the through
yerVice, and to which statement may we
ask II the following act of Congress, ap-
proved August 1, 1888 is not still in force
Section t-That the company shall
place cars of the best construction on said
railway, with all modern improvements
neces to the convenience and comfort
or passengers. and shall cars thereon
as often as the public convenience may re-
quire in accordance with a time table
schedule adopted by the company, a copy
Of which shall be filed with the Commits
siorerS of the District of Columbia and he
approved by them
If we are correctly informed. and we
think we are this section of the amend
ment TO the charter was inserted by Con-
gress TO insure for Anacostia a through
and convenient schedule, so that the Ana
costa and Potomac River Railroad Com
pany could not at any time give an unSat-
isidCbolN StTNlCe, winch II certainly Is do
Ing at present. and we might add that if 1t
Were III any other section of the District of
Columbia, especially the northwestern sec
ton, the existing conditions would not be
tolerated twenty-four hours, whether there
was law governing the case or not.
Reply to Company Official.
May we be permitted TO reply to what
the vice president of the Anacostia and Po-
tomac River Railroad Company says in his
mi tn
furnished our association in which he
states:
In view of the fact that the schedule is
and has for long time been sufficient and
satisfactory, 1t Uhe company fails to I'M
defstand why residents of Anacostia should
nave troubled the Commissioners over a
matter which might better have been the
SUBJECT OF direct communication and as to
"hlch there was no excuse for either mis-
st5tement or undue nervousness
1T appears then, from the section quoted
that the citizens were right in appealing to
the Commissioners, for il seems that the
only protection we have is found in the
charter of the company. We feel that in
justice TO ourselves 1t is proper to make this
statement, as the vice president of the rail-
road company may not perhaps be aware
of section g.
Now that the Commissioners have re-
moved their objection TO the cars crossing
the bridge but inserting a restriction as
to the number. the officials of the railroad
SoIIpdHS advised US yesterday that thew
VIII not run the cars from the city through
Anacostta, although they had previously
promised our committee that they would
do so If the Commissioners removed their
objection to the cars now operating and
those TO be operated in the winter months,
crossing the bridge
May we ask If the Commissioners ap-
prove this schedule, which compels a trans
fer on continuous line of road?
Notices Posted.
The railroad officials placed notices in
the cars crossing the bridge to the effect
that when more than forty passengers get
on a car TO cross the bridge the employees
of the company will hold the car until a
sufficient number of passengers get off
so as to enable the company to comply
with the regulation before mentioned May
we ask II this is part of the schedule
the Commissioners approve-a schedule
which could not possibly be operated on
time. under the restrictions mentioned In
the notice?
We venture to suggest that If the present
schedule now operating on 18th street be
extended across the bridge to Anacostia
there would be ample accommodation for
all passengers to and from Anacostia and
during the busy hours additional cars would
run as the public convenience requires IT.
The cars now being operated on the
bridge are far from being of the best con-
struction-two of them appear to have been
the old Glen Echo railroad cars, having
been in use ever since electric roads were
first operated in the District of Columbia
about fifteen years ago
Charge of Partially.
1T looks as If the railroad company were
| catering TO the Mt Peasant traffic In the
| extension recently made to 18th street and
| Lydecker avenue, and while the citizens
| of Anacostia wish the citizens of Mt
| Pleasant all kinds of additional transporta-
! ton facilities. do not feel that we should
| be neglected because we are not fortunate
enough in having that most essential helper
! competition We would go and cite
| numerous instances of delays, etc, but
| will not mention them now, and will only
| ask the following questions:
| rs there not some way in which the Com
| missioners can compel the Anacostia and
| Potomac River Railroad Company TO oper-
| ate a through service from Nichols avenue,
| Anacostia, to 18th and G streets northwest
| as their charter calls for? If so,
| "Will the Commissioners enforce the pro-
4 visions OF the charter, must the citizens
| take the matter in court and compel an
enforcement
"A prompt repy will greatly oblige.'
| Adds Postscript.