Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1910-06-11
The First Gun

The First Gun
The first of a series of meetings was
held Tuesday evening to protest against
the increase in fares. The gathering
would have been larger had not the
Mayor suggested postponement.
Through the efforts of Mr.. l.. II. Bar
rett the room of the Young Mems Rcpub
Ican Club was taken possession of tt
accommodate the crowd.
Mr.. Barrett opened the discussion
He said that the 100 per cent. increase
was an imposition and advised that the
citizens should not submit as it was
sample of what all corporations were
doing to get more money and keep the
working man under and, that their in
dianation was fully warranted. The
sudden realization of the railroad com
panes that the sum of five cents was
Insufficient, after operating the road tor
the past seven years on that basis, was
il little tardy. The population of the
town in 1903 was in the neighborhood
of 1900 and a conservative figure OF to-
DAYS population would place it at
HOO If the road could afford to carry
passengers for five cents when the pop
ulation was only half of what it is
today. why can't it do SO now?" The
development and improvement that
Plcasantville has witnessed is due to
the five cent fare, and the doubling of
the fare would prove detrimental to pro
gress and real estate valuation. Mr..
Barrett closed his remarks by saying
he was with them and would do all he
could to help financially and physically
that the wishes of the working man be
accedcd to.
Elwood Weeks said: 1--WE are com
PEELED to purchase 60-trip tickets good
for thirty days. This necessitates the
loss of IL considerable amount of money
for the following reasons; on this basis
the rate per trip is fixed. There is not
one man in ten who will use more than
y tickets per month. Taking the con
servative figure of 800 mechanics travel
ing to and fro every day you can easily
figure the loss to labor and the gain to
the corporation. The claim that the
road needed the money to meet the de-
mand of its employees for increased
wages and, that the 10 per cent. raise
III fare was necessary to accomplish this,
is false. as the employees are benefited
very little. 1t is the dividends that
have to be taken care of"
Mr.. ,Japhet Price suggested that the
6n-trip ticket be good for 60 days at Il
Gb cent rate-or. $500 for the book to
be accepted on either road, would be en-
tertained by the Pennsylvania Railroad
officials, he felt confident. if it were pre-
sented in the right way.
Mr.. Joseph Mendel suggested that the
matter be taken up with the railroad
to see if the 60-trip ticket could be used
on both roads and. good until used.
Mr.. Wm. Channels suggested that 4
l00-trip family book good for one year,
the same as used by the Atlantic Ave
nue. line should be offered to the rail
road for consideration, as he could not
see why the road should discriminate.
lie added that it is more advantageous
to have such books between Pleasant
Vile and Atlantic City than between
Atlantic City and Longport.
Mr. Wesley Ford stated that the oper
ators of the Shore Fast Line had to pay
three cents to the p. r. r. for each
passenger Cdllitu, anu tIldt IL NdS Il
losing proposition to them and that the
ultimate result would be the doing away
with the Fast Line as far as local traffic
is concerned, and the Suburban would
Get all the business and give inferior
service owing to lack Of competition.
Mr.. Ford made motion that a com
mittce OF six be appointed. three from
Pleasantville and three from Absecon.
TO work jointly with the committees Of
the other organizations and wait upon
Mr. Akarman and convey the senti-
ments of the meeting This motion
caused general tumult as to what the
true sentiments were. The question
was put. should it be a fve-cent straight
fare or the proposition compromises? II
the iive-cent fare was refused what
should be the next move?
Mr.. J. F. Stephenson stated that he
heard from good authority that Mr.. John
T. Young would assist in financing the
construction Of road into Atlantic City.
The feasibility Of operating automobile
busscs across the Boulevard was shown
to be too uncertain.
The idea of another and competing
road met with hearty approval and the
matter of financing was to allow every