The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-12-09

paralleling the North Boulevard To a
street on the east side, which would
bring the line out on Jefferson-ave.,
| near the water works. III this line
were built the large army of men who
work In the Delray factories and live
in the west and north sections OF the
city could then go home without hav-
ing TO come down to the city hall to
transfer, as they do now. Such a
| line as this would relieve the conges-
ton TO great extent. The belt line
would intersect every line in the city,
except Trumbull. The building Of this
belt line and it's equipment, stoerther
With the connection Of f6e Mack and
Myrtle. lines would cost $7.000;000.
But the d. u. r. stands ready to make
| the improvements whenever the city
sees fit to give the company permits
sion to go ahead. The Third line
should also be extended. SO as to re-
lieve the trafic on the Woodward line.
Couldn't the present conditions be
remedied by placing more cars on the
different lines?" was asked Of Mr..
Brooks. 80. N
No; we have all the cars on now
that can De operated with safety to
the public" Mr. Brooks answered. I'm
fact. they are so thick now that they
cannot move any faster than they do.
in addition to their crowded condi-
tions, the cars must also move more
cautiously now than they used to, be-
cause Of the many automobiles In the
streets The motormen have 10 be
especially cautious In passing corners.
AS many as % cars are often lined up,
on after another. between Jefferson
ave. and the city hall on Woodward
ave. during the particularly busy
period in the evening, from s5:15 TO
I5:S5. Each car can barely move
along, because OF the delays occas-
toned by the intersections and crowds
OF people getting on and OF. II we put
on more cars they would simply be
humping into one another.
Run Takes Longer.
Another evidence or the increase In
traffic I'm the past few years is the
difference in time now taken by the
Woodward cars to go from the city
hall to the city limits and the time
used for the same mileage five years
ago. In 1906 the Woodward cars used
to make the trip In IS minutes; now
they take 33 minutes under ordinary
conditions, and AZ minutes during the
heavy traffic at night"
Mr.. Brooks produced figures to show
the increase in traffic. For the past
Ave years the showing for paid pas
sengers was as follows: 1905, $685.
$40: 1906, 105,06S,377; 1907, 115,259.-
III: 1908. 115.044,60S; 1909, 130,617,-
342. Taking the figures OF 1905 and
comparing them with those OF 1909,
a pecentage increase Of 40.6 Is shown.
Mr.. Brooks, however. pointed out that
the figures included not only the paid
passengers carried In the city, but
also those transported on the inter
urban lines OF the company, namely,
Wyandotte and Trenton, Orchard Lake
and Pontiac and Flint and Romeo
lines. He also explained that the year
1909 was a banner one In the history
of Detroit. thus accounting to some
extent for the big increase paid pas
number handled In previous years.
In addition, Mr.. Brooks drew atten-
ton to the fact that the service rem
dered had increased about 40 per cent.
while the track mileage had not been
EXTENDED.
Speaking Of the inconvenience suf-
fered by the public In view OF the fact
that cars often run by people waiting
on corners, Mr.. Brooks said that he
was aware of such conditions and was
sorry they obtained.
You Bet II Irritates EN-.
at - necessary for some cars to
run by people when the cars are al
ready filled to capacity" said MIR.
| Brooks. But we have q rule which
provides that no car must run by un-
/ less there Is another within a block
behind. | know from experience that
there is nothing which irritates a
man more than to have car run by
him. We hear OF some cases of the
kind and we never fail to investigate
them. We certainly insist that our
motormen live up TO our rules"
! Asked II he thought Detroiters
would ever show militant opposition
to the 'pay-enter" cars, as was done