Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-05
THE SIGNS ON CARS
NEW YORK PEOPLE HAD THEIR
TROUBLES, TOO.
Satisfactory Device Adopted by the
Companies Whose Lines Use
Broadway.
photo by STAFF Photographer.)

Il observe that the Caf-rlolnS pubic IS
having its troubles in the capital" said
visitor from New York to q Star re-
porter in an uptown hotel. and we had
the same difficulty with the many lines
Of different destinationed cars which run
up and down Broadway until the COM
panies yielded to public protest and
properly placarded them.
Cars bound up '7th avenue Broad
way Columbus avenue and to Central
Park all go up and follow in a practi
cally continuous Jire the Great White
Way until their respective points Of d.
vergence are reached. They are nearly
all painted and look alike, and but for
the small but properly placed separate
designation letterings there would be a
continuous performance Of wrangling
between conductors and riders.
There are four separate destination
designations upon these cars. as there
should be upon the cars in this city.
and those in the metropolis are marked
thus block Of wood, about two feet
long by four inches in thickness, with
four surfaces, and in the shape of an
extended parallelogram. Is placed upon
both ends Of the car on the top Of the
roof. and a similarly surfaced parallelo7
gram is attached directly over the steps
and at the front and rear entrances to
the car. These blocks turn easily upon
ratchets. and are moved according to the
cars destination when the car starts on
| its run by the conductor.
Il can readily understand why there Is
so much complaint in this city and l am
at loss to understand why such simple
expedient as this is not adopted in the cap
! ital. With the new large cars. the front
| and rear destination designations are al
| ready in place and are of glass on the car
tops
| ut is my understanding, however, that
! the main cause of complaint in this city
| comes from the patrons Of the old-style cars
| with the out-of-date trailers 1t Is not sur
| prising as it Is practically impossible, es-
pecially at night, to tell where you are go
| ing when you enter these cars. until the
! conductor comes through with the trans
| fers, as 1 discovered to my annoyance the
other night in going up 14th street. The
patrons Of the street car lines in the CAPT.
| tai have been educated by long usage and
| practice that the yellow cars go to one
| destination and the green cars to another.
| as has recently been the case without am
| pie and full explanatory lettering that con-
| fusion results is natural consequence of a
| change In established practices without adj
| equate notification.
The Lack of Straps
"And there is another thing that have
noticed about the new side-seated cars on
| the 14th street line. These cars are fine
| ones, but when they crowded they are
| much more uncomfortable than the old
style, long, single-seated cars. and the rea
| son is simple-the lack of the good, old
| standby. the familiar hanging straps
| But most of the crowd congregates not
| in the center of the aisle. but in the widen
| ed spaces in either end of the car, in which
| the seats are placed parallel to the cal
| sides, forming a standing room capable OF
| holding about twelve passengers. Here are
| two small strap racks of about three feet
| in length and each holding four straps. OF
| eight in all. These strap racks should be
made just twice as long again, with double
! the number of straps. extending to anG
| over the first side seats on either side
| Under the present conditions the stop.
| ping jolting and Swaying of the cars at al
! points and turns of the line throw the
| standing passengers in these spaces, an6
| especially the ladies, on the feet and into
f! the laps of those who may be seated in the
I two parallel seats, well upon those
| seated in the two side seats. Many are the
| injured or savage looks and sharp words
| sometimes not unaccompanied by exple
| tives, given by those seated to the sway
| ing and luckless standing passengers, who
| are endeavoring to preserve their eQullib
| rum and look pleasant at the same time
! but who cannot do so for the lack of the
| straps 1t would seem to me that add
tional straps are quite necessary in these
| cars