New-York tribune., 1907-11-14

and 9Th street which he believed, could have been
completed more quickly at night
Sergeant John Mccullough in charge of the ter
ritory east of Broadway from Ann street to Canal.
street. described conditions at New Chambers
street, Park Row and Duane street 1t would be
almost impossible divert much of the heavy
traffic which passes this point he said, to any
other streets because OF the geographical forma-
tion in that neghborhobd The traffic interfered
comparatively little with the cars and no better
conditions could be put into force there he be-
Heved. He told of eght-mnute delay on Tues
day at Broadway and Murray street. where a dead
got stalled the breaker in being switched
to the uptown track.
Lieutenant O'Connor, who until few days ago.
had charge OF the traffic squad men from l4th
street to 59h street. from river to river told OF
conditions he had found them. He agreed with
all the other witnesses that the proposed Shonts
ordinances would be good, only 1t would be i'm
possible to enforce them. To do so would re-
quire twice the number of patrolmen employed
at present he said. He proved to be rather a phi
losopher in his way with strongly marked views
and a good knowledge of his subject The rail-
road people always ducked responsibility, he
pointed out; in case of a delay or ue-up 1t was
impossible TO find the man whose duty it was 10
remedy that precise evil. The general public did
not mind violating ordinances in trivial things
where the people thought they could get away
with IT The public thought it was not Sc
rious thing to back truck up to the curb; neither
did the courts The truckmen might be made 10
sec the good in these proposed ofdlndnCeS uu' h"'
in "a little while To have a healthy observance
of the ordinances would require more patrolmen
and the hearty cooperation Of the magistrates
Lieutenant O'Connor's testimony furnished sew
eral points which Commissioner Wilcox directed
Mr. Mason to look into. One was the blocking nf
Sixth avenue by the contractors for the McAdoo
tunnel Another phase Of tbs was the virtual clos
ing of streets by the railroad companies when they
were making repairs TO their tracks or power
rails, OConnor said that in hN opinion the com
oHrtthfo
of the DELAYS in service. and perhaps this per-
centage might accurately be 81 or 90
Sergeant William J. Byrnes. attached TO the
Sd Sub-Precinct. with charge OF uptown terri
tory at night. estimated this percentage as about
~ II seemed 10 him that the company al
ways making repairs at Fourth md 14h
street. Vehcular trafflc in his experience. inter-
fered little with the streetcar service Inefficient
employees, deficiencies IL equipment and the maxi
inc of repairs in the daytime did. He described
the difficulties in handling and tralc in 3ith
and 42d streets. Sergeant Patrick ,Gilmartin. in
charge Of uptown territory at night. went more
fully into this trouble declaring that the cross
over switch in 42d street. the Beasco Thea
tire. caused endless trouble and delay. lie sdvo-
Gated ordinance restricting the of this
switch and others similarly situated to non-rush
hours and also an ordinance prohibiting the clean
ing Of power rails and making OF repairs in con-
gested territory until after Il 30 p.
Sergeant John Heffernan testified about delays
caused by the switchback at Broadway and Hous-
ton From 50 10 90 per cent Of the delays at
Astor Place and sth street were due 10 the car
companies. The company Tuesday night. he
said put to work on the repair work at Astor
Place and Fourth avenue for the first time In the
two months in which this work has been in prog
ress BY day the men unable TO accomplish
anything of much value.
Sergeant James J. DENIM, with uptown territory
where the streets wide and the traffic is fast,
said that all the delays were the companys fault
Sergeant George q. Craig declared that so cent
could be obtained at South Ferry If the Sixth
and Eighth avenue cars were sent around the loop
instead OF being shunted into the "butt-end terml-
nal" Sergeant John T. Higgins. with territory on
the lower West Sde favored sending traffic In mar
row streets with track in the same direction
as the streetcars moving. He described traffic
conditions and hold-ups along the waterfront.
At the hearing to-day Mr.. Mason intends to put
on the stand the patrolmen in charge Of the con-
gested corners, who will present their tabuations
OF traffic conditions and streetcar delays DR.. Wal
ter Bensei Street Cleaning Commissioners, also will
be called TO tell about snow removal.
William NJ. Twins at present is studying Brooklyn
Rapid Transit conditions. He expects to spend all
of Friday in Brooklyn on the books of the COM
pany, and when the inquiry is resumed next week
Il will be to probe the Brooklyn cornpanys affairs