New-York tribune., 1907-11-14
POLICE ON TRANSIT.
BLAME CAR COMPANIES.
Say Surface Delays Are Due to MIS-
MANAGEMENT, Not Distractions.


Police officers in immediate charge Of the traffic
congested sections of this city testified before The
Public Service Commission yesterday that street
car delavs were due largely TO defects charResble
% the streetcsr companies themselves From man
after man Herbert y. Mason. conducting the in
vestigaton all phases Of the relation of vehicu
lar traffic to streetcar service brought out narra-
tives OF personal experiences. in some cases sup
ported by tabulated figures. refuting the declara-
tions Of Theodore P. Shonts apd Oren Root that
trucks held up the streetcars and made impossible
a better surface service.
Delays OF from two 10 five and ten and fifteen
minutes were cited by many of the officers. In one
case a delay Of forty-avesm minutes approximately
was recalled. Example after example was brought
forward where apparently there existed a grave
lack Of judgment the part Of the railroad com
many. else the worst kind Of mismanagement.
The use Of the "butt-end terminal" at South Ferry
for Sixth and Eighth avenue cars caused much
needless delay the policemen testified. The switch
back at Broadway and 22d and 23d streets delayed
not only the Lexington avenue cars. but the Broad
way cars northbound and southbound. and some
times the 23d street crosstoWn service. Repairing
tracks and cleaning the channel rail in the day
time caused great delay and confusion. not only in
the service. but to general traffic
Lieutenant Richard o'Connor. who is. not now
serving in the traffic squad. keen. combative 1T
tie Irshman. with delicious brogue. was the man
who told Of the 46-minute delay. It happened at
Canal street and Broadway last winter. Condi-
ions became bad after stalled
that he telephoned 10 one Of the officials OF the
company urging that a couple Of teams Of horses
be hired to drag the cars across the fatal spot,
hoping that the breakers they could go
with the ordinary motive power. The company
declined 10 get the horses.
Lieutenant William F. Boettler, who in
charge OF the tabustion Of traffic details and the
causes or delays. the first witness He told
the commission that he had under him this
work five patronen who with him worked almost
every day from a. m. 10 D. Conditions dur
ing the period Of tabulation normal save that
two days there was rain. Lieutenant
Boettler agreed with those officials who testified
delays due 10 the defects in equipment or neg
ngence Of employees Of the companies. His tahua-
ton extended. he said. 10 these points: Fourth
avenue and 23d street. Sixth avenue and
23d street, Fifth avenue and 42d street Sixth
and 42d street. Broadway and 42d street
Fifth avenue and 34th street. Sixth avenue
and 42d street, the Bowerv and Grand street
Broadway and Chambers street. Broadway and
Grand street West Broadway and Canal street
West Broadway and Chambers street. Broadway
and Fulton street, Broadway and Canal street
Sixth avenue and 18th street, Broadway and
Bleecker street, Madison avenue and 42d street
Park Row Duane and Chambers streets Broadway
and 23d street. Broadway and Houston street,
Broadway and Prince street Broadway and Spring
street, the Bowery and Canal street Canal and
Lafayette streets. Broadway and sth street and
Fourth avenue and sth street
The reports. which noted the number OF cars
the number Of vehicles in the street the average
Roadway Of and the time the traffic inter
vals all had been prepared very carefully he said
Stop watches. even. had been used 10 time the
traffic intervals"-those periods Of time during
which the traffic in one street would be held up
crowded corner TO let traffic in the other street
pass On October 80 and 81 he made special ex-
animation Of conditions at Fourth avenue and 23d
street Conditions on those days were normal. On
the first day there were fourteen hold-ups from
cars getting stalled on breakers, or on wrong
switches. or power being shut off. They averaged
minutes seconds. but one delay bad one.
power being shut off north Of 23d street for Il
minutes. This caused northbound 42d street car
10 get stuck on the curve, blocking east and west
hound cars in 23d street. In no way was traffic
responsible for any of these delays.
The following dag there thirty-seven hold
Ups. averaging ir ration 5sik seconds each This
especial point bad one, declared Lieutenant
Boettler. but wise conditions there were typi-
cal Of congested points all the city. He re-
ferred especially TO Lafayette street, Astor Place.
Fourth avenue and sth street where he could not
tabulate the delays. they numerous. They
would be more than a hundred, he estimated. Re
pair work was going there, and the motornen
would get their stuck breakers causing
from three TO five minutes delay in almost every
case There was reason why this repair work
should not be done at night At Broadway, Sixth
avenue and 34th street, another bad point Boettler
SAID Ehere was very little VehlculaT interference
with the traffic. that all delays there were
due 70 the company's faults.
Lieutenant Archibald TaggaTt. vertable giant,
said he had charge of the territory i4th street
TO the Battery west of Broadway. with hundred
men under him. He told of many of the reasons
for traffic congestion in that territory Washing
ton and Greenwich streets were so harrow that
trucks had no chance TO back up 20 the curb He
favored the proposal 10 limit traffic 10 the direc-
ton in which the streetcars ran, and this should
be done in Duane and Chambers streets too He
said he believed the trucllmen never wfuly oh
struCted streetcars. bat of course, there were
some places whore they had TO drive the tracks
for "A short distance
Lieutenant Louis ". Hsupt, who had charge Of
the territory east Of Broadway from the Battery to
14th street, had about the same story to tell. His
bad spots. he said. at South Ferry, Park
Row. Duane and New Chambers streets, the Bow
and Grand street and Fourth avenue and sth
street The lines running through his terri
tory frequently seemed 10 lack the power neces-
for grades and curves. Cleaning and repair
ing work In the daytime caused much disturbance
Of the schedules. He never saw a trucknlan
who malciously interfered with the streetcar ser
vice. The repair work caused great delays and
seemed 10 be prolonged unnecessarily-yyork had
been goiTg for three weeks at Fourth avenue