Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-21
elimination of Carpet Seats
Makes Them More Sanitary.
REPORT OF Mr.. EDDY
Favors Adoption Of Systematic Meth.
Cd Of Sweeping Out.
SOME OF STEPS DANGEROUS
Secretary of Electric Railway Com
mission Says He Found Many
of Them Badly Worn.

THE almost universal use of rattan, or
pantasote, covered seats and the prac-
teal elimination of carpet and plush seats
are noticeable features in the improve
ment Of the sanitary condition Of the
street railway cars operated in the Dis
triet Of Columbia"
This Is a statement of Secretary Eddy
of the District electric railway commits
sion. in a report to that commission.
which has just been transmitted to the
interstate commerce commission with GER
tain recommendations.
: Not only has this change in seat COW
erings improved the sanitary condition of
the local cars, but, according to Mr..
Eddy's report, the later design Of cars
that have been installed contains fewer
places for dust and dirt to accumulat.
In way to make it difficult to remove.
In addition to other recommendations,
following the receipt Of the report, the
District commission favors the adoption
OF regulation which shall provide that
on or before January /. 1911. every COM
pany shall submit to the interstate COM
merce commission detailed statement in
dtcating what method or methods are be-
ing employed to maintain clean and SAM
tary conditions in the cars operated by
1t.
Advocates Better Sweeping.
Mr.. Eddy says thorough, effcient and
systematic cleaning process should be
adopted by each company and applied to
all cars operated at regular intervals. He
says that in his inspection he found the
cars generally as clean as could reason
ably be expected on several lines, but on
others there might be an improvement
On some lines the cars are swept at the
end OF every round trip; on others they
are not.
Cars operated on suburban lines, he
mas, are rather open to the charge OF
lack OF cleanliness than city cas-. The
car cleaners. he says. are generally care
ful not to so sweep the cars as to raise
dust to accumulate on the seats and
window stills. Crowds at some terminals
during rush hours. lack Of time when the
terminal Is not at the end of the line and
other lines are using the same tack, he
says. make 1t practically impossible to
clean the cars thoroughly, but he thinks
the conductors should be required to re-
move waste paper and litter and that
they generally do so. On all lines the
cars are cleaned before they leave the
barn on their first trip. and more
thorough cleaning is given them at ir-
regular intervals by the majority of the
companies.
Inspection Was Thorough.
The inspection was made following the
adoption Of regulation of the interstate
commerce commission, and 1t also covered
such subjects as tenders, wheel guarus
sand boxes, steps, floors, grab handles,
windows, etc. Results show that there
are gross carelessness and indifference on
some lines regarding the condition OF
equipment. especially tenders and wheel
guards On other lines reasonable care
and attention are given. -
One company. since the inspection, says
Mr.. Eddy, has detailed one Of its in
spectors to make daily inspection of the
cars in operation, at the barns and at I'M
expected times. Instances OF loose or de-
fective apparatus are recited in the re-
port. Fewer defects were found, he says,
In the suburban than i'm the city cars.
The car steps, says Mr.. Eddy, he found
generally In good condition, but some
were dangerously worn on the edge OF
the tread Generally speaking" he says,
there was evidence of carelessness in the
matter Of maintenance of the apparatus"
Indeed. he says, the result of the inspec-
ton shows that tenders and wheel guards
require most attention, and it is evident
they are not daily inspected.