The Washington herald., 1911-05-01

| any suburbanite to action" said Mr.. Nc
Gill, "and during the past year We have
striven in vain to remedy the evil
Louis P. Shoemaker, president of the
Brightwood Citizens Association, also
took decided stand upon the unfairness
of the excess charges. THE whole Dis
trict," he said. is identical with wash
! ington, and there should be no greater
charge for delivering baggage and express
| matter to Brightwood. Brooklapd. Or else
| where in the immediate suburbs than
within the limits of the city proper.
Effects Far-reaching.
If you are in the center Of the city
! and hire a workman to do a job in
Georgetown. the navy yard, or some
other far-away point that is regarded as
being within the city limits. he will raise
no objections But send him out to
Brightwood, for instance which in reality
is no farther away than the other places.
and it is an entirely different matter
Of the artificial and arbitrary bounds
that the several companies have erected
Il think it high time continued Mr..
Shoemaker, that something be done re-
garding the rates charged by the baggage
transfer people, the express companies,
and the othe, public services. These
common carriefs should make allowances
for the growth Of the city from year to
year. All paris of the surroundings of
the city are growing steadily in popula-
ton and therf should be a regulation
imposing a uniform rate throughout the
District
TT is not SO long ago that it was i'm
possible to have an express parcel de-
livered even i,' Columbia Heights Such
| condition 80 forcing people In the
suburbs to hail their own goods or pay
excessive charles just because they live
little farthet away from the Capitol
than their more favored neighbors should
be remedied az once"
From the opposite end Of town came
the forceful complaint of Charles R.
| Burr. president of the Anacostia Citi-
! zens' Association, who spoke strongly OF
| what he calle't the yoke" placed upon
residents of thu suburbs everywhere "A
committee Of our association is at work
at this time Collecting data on this very
proposition baid Mr.. Burr. Conditions
are as bad In Anacostia as elsewhere,
and If the peOple will get together and
make a concerted protest something may
be done.
Cali for Parcels.
1T is true that each OF the express
companies has an Office in Anacostia. but
1t looks to me as though they are there
only to get business and not to oblige
the people. The central Offices in the
city deliver to the Anacostia branches
and the resident then receives a postal
card to tell him. that he can call himself
at the branch Office for the parcel which
the company should send to his residence
That is the only way we can manage to
get our parcels out here" said Mr.. Burr
And it Is the same way with trunks"
he continued. They are delivered as far
as Navy Yard Bridge. and there they
are dropped. The suburbanite, If he is
able, must send down for his baggage.
Things are in such an absurd condition
in this respect that one might as we'll
live back in the woods for all the coh
veniences these carriers give one. 1t is a
condition that must be remedied. and the
sooner the people get together on it the
better
A prominent Official Of the Taxicab
Company said that he did not think that
taxicabs should come under the same
regulation as the other common carriers.
The company. he said, had tried to treat
the public fairly in this respect by es-
tablishing two terminal points-one at
Union Station and the other at the ga
rage. They calculated the distance from
the terminal nearest to the point Of call,
allowing a radius of two miles from that
point as within the limits. Beyond this
distance charge Of 20 cents a mile was
made for each mile or fraction thereof.
in accordance with police regulations. It
Is their custom to regard Seventh street
and Georgia avenue as the dividing line.
All points west being regarded as ga
rage terminal points. and all east Of
them as Union Station terminals.
What Merchants Think.
Retail merchants Of the city do not
view the excess charge by express and
transfer companies as being at all justi-
fled on any grounds that have been ad-
vanced. Many Of those who have large
deliveries Of parcels to make all over
the District say that the uniform rate
mat Is charged within what are called
city limits would pay the companies well
for all the service they perform
Simon Kann, of the firm Of s. Kann,
Sens & Co.. said that his firm delivers
all purchases, regardless Of size or value.