New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-29
UP IN ARMS OVER NAME.
Many at Turner BaIk at Having
chairman" on Station.
MASS MEETING CALLED
Order of Erie Railroad Company
Making Change Rescinded
Next Day.

Turner. n. Y. May q (SpeciaD.-The Vii
lage Improvement Association OF this place
at q recent meeting voted-5s to 13-to
change the name OF this old Erie twenty
minutes for refreshments place to Harri-
man, after the late E. II. Hartman. Inc
Hartman estate borders on Turner. and
many residents thought so TO honor the
name of the dead fnancier. Objection was
| soon raised by descendants of the Turner's
who think much Of their family name. and
meeting has been called for June 4. whom
a protest will be made
Acting on instructions given them at the
recent meeting OF the improvement society
and in evident alarm at the gradually grow
ing opposition TO the change of name. the
committee appointed requested the Erie
Railroad TO have the name changed. be-
neving that the Postoffice Department
would Immediately follow and adopt the
new name. The Erie acted with more than
usual promptness and the name was
charged.
What followed has an amusing as well
as serious side to II. All the conductors
on the main line and other trains had been
instructed to call out Hartman" when
they came to Turner. and they carried oue
the order to the letter. Among a number
of commuters who reached Turner on the
night train from New York was Father
MacAran who is in the forefront of the
opposition to the change Of name. When
the conductor called out Hartman the
passengers could scarcely believe their ears.
The priest looked at the conductor doubt
ingly, thinking it was a joke, and asked
what meant
Sorry but we must obey orders. father.
is what the conductor is reported 10 have
said
Father MacAran next morning started
for New York. To add to his annoyance
the old and weather beaten sign that has
been on the station building at Turner for
many years had teen removed and replaced
by brand new one bearing the name
Hartman
Early yesterday morning word was re-
ceived from the railroad company to dis
regard the order changing the name of the
station: the new sign came down imme-
dately. and the conductors again called
the station by the old name
One prominent business man said yester-
day that an injunction had stopped the
railroad company from obeying the instruc-
tons of the village Improvement meeting,
and that the president OF the railroad had
found one on his desk early Thursday
morning.
Meantime the arrangements for the mass
meeting to be held June 4. show that IL viii
be one Of the most remarkable ever held
in the history of this quiet village 1t IS
putting 1t mildly to say that the sub
1ect and the proposition are likely TO
break the friendships Of years. That the
agitation to stop the change will go on
there is question, because II is
drawing new adherents every hour The
committee at the head of the anti-Ha ri
man movement consists of Bryan g.
Hughes. Peter Turner and Fathers Mac
Aran and Tobn.
Father MacAran will undoubtedly be
present at the Indignation meeting. Some
ten years ago he formed an association in
New York known as the Friends of Tur-
ner." and they are something over two
hundred strong in New York City They
hold an annual entertainment every ytar,
and the name of Turner has become sort
of family name among them
Peter Turner the pioneer of the village.
and grandson of Peter Turner after whom
the village was named, was found in a
field driving pair OF horses attached TO a
cultivator He had heard of the mass
meeting called. and said emphatically that
he would attend 1t.
who are they at this meeting? he
asked Many of them had not been fifteen
or even ten years in Turner. Father Mac
Aran is the most outspoken and indepen-
dent man in the village. and he ought TO
be backed up. and he will be. We will have
CONGRESSMAN Bradley attend to this mat
ter. They cannot put it through until Con-
gress acts 1 remember perfectly well as
a bow of twelve when my grandfather and
grandmother entertained the artillery going
TO the war from, West Point They passed
through here and were entertained by my
grandfather and David Gibbs, of Central
valley II is a matter of history. and is re-
lated in the local papers Of the time
At the meeting of the Village Improve
ment Association the principal speech was
made by Charles T. Ford. general superin-
tendent of the Hartman estates. He ex-
plained the intentions of the Erie Railroad
in the matter of the erection of new sta
tion. and the ideas of Mrs. Hartman and
her attitude toward the proposed change in
the name of the village in honor of her
family. and in memory of her husband. AS
70 the latter position. Mr.. Ford said that
the change would be agreeable to Mrs Har-
riunan and that she would consider it an
honor II the name of the village was
changed TO Hartman.
AS to the station proposition, the railroad
company, Mr.. Ford said, proposed 10 spend
S25 eco on inlproveme nts at Turner, 36,NV
of which would be for new station build
ing.