The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-07-24
By j. CLINTON RANSOM.

in summer. il is by no means established
beyond fair argument that the open car
is the preferable type Much can be said
for the closed car in the way of safety
and comfort. specially the new pay-as-
you-enter type
1t may be said first of ali that the
closed car with the end doors open and
the windows up is not the hot. stuffy.
sunocating conveyance It has been repre-
scented to be. as compared with the open
type. The truth is any car is hot on a
hot day or night when il is overcrowded.
Fill the old type of open car with as
many passengers as il would hold, with
seats fun and the running boards crowded.
= and it is equally hot and stuffy with the
closed car Either one lightly loaded is
cool, with little choice between them, as
anyone's experience must attest
Conductor Safe Now.
From the point of the conductor there Is
no comparison possible between the two
types Of car. In the closed car he is
safe and his work is done with much less
effort than in the open car. To the con-
ductor the open ear is always dangerous.
He is Obliged TO so along the running
board after the fares. In the rainy
weather he must be wet TO the skin be-
fore his runs are over. 1t was because
of the killing OF more than round dozen
OF conductors upon the suburban routes
that led the companies some years back
10 take the open cars off the lines
where the overhead trolley IS used.
Every year and sometimes oftener a
conductor was killed or seriously injured
on the Benuing line during the racing
10 take the open cars off the lines
season or while bringing the crowds from
the trains running up from Chesapeake
Beach The company was forced out OF
humanitarian motives to abandon the use
OF these cars on that line and run the
closed car.
Accidents Nearly Eliminated.
~ long as the open car has been in use
in Washington many accidents have re-
suited from persons anghring from them
while in motion or seeking to board them
after they have started. These accidents
are practically eliminated in the closed
car
In the pay-as-yOu-enter car the board
ing and alighting have been reduced to
something like simple system. Psssen-
gers entering the car do not collide with
those getting off, and the arrangement
has everything to recommend it. There
IS no congestion at the crossings points
where many passengers change
Conductors say that in making the
average run they save two or three
minutes at the transfer points by the
better time made by the passengers get
ting on and off, This type of car has
much room inside. and while IN the rush
hours many have to stand. they can do
so In greater comfort and in much great
er safety than on the running board out
side an open car.
Big Cars Run Steadily.
No comparison can be made between
the steady running Of the large closed
cars and the lighter open type. especially
the short two-car train. TO which many
are devoted 1t has always seemed 70
me that the most uncomfortable car ever
devised TO ride IN is the short motor and
trailer. Both cars bob up and down upon
the rails, making it nearly impossible
10 stand In them, much less 10 walk the
length of the car while in motion.
The old trailer, with both cars open in
summer and the closed and open one IN
winter have a charm especially TO the
smoker, but in point of comfortable rid
ing in the large, steady moving closed car
which sticks to the track and does not
bump the passenger, the closed car has
clearly the advantage. It carries more
people under better conditions than the
open car
END Hog" Disappears.
In the closed car the nuisance some
times designated as the end hog" is
eliminated. That peculiar product of HUI
man nature is obliged to enter the car,
and about the only way in which his
old characteristics appear is when he
grabs the first strap near the door and
refuses 10 bulge. though he blocks the
way Of other passengers trying TO get
comfortable position ahead of him. But
in the longitudinal seated car there is
room TO get around this kind OF a man
and find a position where standing Is
comparatively comfortable.
In 'the new type Of closed car smoking
is tabooed. and the crowd Of men on the
back platform is eliminated. Women and
children can board these cars. except
when unduly crowded, without any of the
discomforts experienced in the older type
OF closed cars. where the smokers and
the man who chooses TO stick 10 the back
platform are no longer allowed 10
gather there.
Easier to Board the Cars.
II would seem clear that the use Of the
newer type of closed car offers great adj
vantaees over the discomfort OF climbing
over the knees Of several people to a seat
at the inside Of the cross sections Of the
open car. The insistence with which peo-
pie in Washington stick to the outside
end OF the seats OF the open car is past
explanation.
Neutrality-suspicious. are, generally speaking.
polite. This Is seen over and over again
on the streets, where no man is too busy
and no woman too dignifed to give d. |
rection to the stranger who may need |
enlightenment about some public build /
ing and the way 10 get there. But when II /
comes to moving along In the seat OF the 1
open car so as to admit the later pas |
sengers into the outside end of the seats. /
the manners of Washingtonians cannot |
be commended.
This almost universal practice Of neo- i
pie riding IN open cars has done more
than any other one thing to disgust the /
conductors and line superintendents with
their use. Much running time is lost
waiting for the passengers 10 climb over
those already seated in the cars in board
ing and alighting, and the running time
of the open car is on the whole slower
than the closed car.
Something ought TO be said in this con-
nection eommendatory of the efforts OF
the companies in the way of lettering