Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1907-09-01
DEBATE THE
FENDER LAW
ATTORNEY HEWITT TALK
"HUNTINGToN is DISCOURAGED
BY AGITATION"
Trolley Official Tells City Club All
Laws Are Not Enforced-city's
Legal Adviser Says He Is
Doing His Duty
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ..s.sss*.

General Manager Joseph Mcmillan of
the Huntington trolley interests and City
Attorney Leslie r. Hewitt crossed loren
sic swords yesterday at the City club
over the fender ordinance
The unique debate was brought about
by recent arrests at the instance of Pros
ecutor Fleming of Huntington officials,
because they refused to put Eclipse fen
ders on their interurban cars, holding
them as dangerous to the passengers.
For two hours the debate waged. the
largest audience of the season attending
the session.
Manager Mcmillan explained that all
the companys oratorical talent was abb
sent on vacations and he was selected
though he did not relish being pitted
against an attorney, especially so able
a man as the city's legal adviser.
Huntington Discouraged
Perhaps the most notable statement
made was that Mr. Huntington had be-
come discouraged by the agitation DOW
in progress here against trolley interests,
and had ordered all new construction
work abandoned.
In line with this, twenty-five men have
been dropped from the engineering de-
u,
Again Mr. Mcmillan maintained that If
city officials were really jealous about
equal enforcement of all laws why did
they not arrest teamsters who for blocks
forced motormen behind them to slow up
their cars, keeping hundreds of passengers
waiting, rather than turn their teams
aside?
| Why did they not, he asked, arrest
bicyclists and motorcyclists, who In de-
fiance of their own safety insisted on
racing on their wheels between the certer
of tracks while cars We're going in OPP
posite directions?
Fleming Inconsistent
! And why did Prosecutor Fleming, when
| he caused the wholesale arrests of street
car crews, refuse an inspector permission
to convey a dead" car to the sheds
| until hundreds of passengers in cars
were delayed half hour waiting for the
crewless car to be switched out of tn,
right of way?
City Attorney Hewitt on the other hand
argued purely from a legal standpoint
saying that his duty was to enforce exist
ing ordinances until they were repealed
the speaker repeating that while he per
sonally may have doubted the wisdom
of the legislation yet he had no alter
native but to prosecute.
Manager Mcmillan opened his talk by
saying that his company was anxious t.
be shown practicable, all around fender
suitable for interurban highspeed cars.
The iytraps they were supposed to use
within the city limits would buckle under
the car on slight provocation outside the
slow-speed boundary.
He read letters showing that more in
terurban cars were operated by the Paci
hc Electric company than in the whole
state of Ohio
Projecting Tenders Dangerous
Experts had reported that the project
| Ing fender was surely going out and {
protective wheel guard was being studied
to take its place.
It has been shown that projecting fen
ders by distracting the attention of tn
motorman add new perils, injure per
sons who might otherwise escape ant
] Introduce new elements of danger.
| The speaker told of the recent action
of the Long Beach council. which or
dered speed reduced to four miles al
hour.
Within two days committee of mem
bers of the chamber of commerce, coun
Gil and business bodies asked Mr. Nc
MILAN to accept their guarantee that tn
law would be repealed and to ignore it
anu IL WIS lSpcdlCu eie Tic hCAI SSSoloi
of the council
He said that when car going at onl.
a fair speed strikes a passerby there i
little hope even with fender.
Think of the blow you get at night a
in the dark you grope about maybe TO
a match and your head comes in contac
with something" said he, by way o
illustration. "Then think of six-tol
car striking luckless person going a
a few miles an hour and you may imagine
how unfair it is to place reliance on tn,
fender alone.
Why They Get Hurt
Our own records show many accidents
due to Eclipse tenders.
And may l ask is anybody keeping
tab on the people killed by automobiles
The yellow journals print standing lis
of the dead and injured caused by cars
/ pofu0 q far "a Santa Ana xuharo fruf