The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-05-12

store it later because the years income
appeared to have suffered from thu
abatement of the lower fare. Asked il
he expected that many of the working
men would continue 10 ride if the five
cent fare were adopted, Mr.. Sands re
piled that it was probematical. For his
part, he said, he thought the company
would get along qpite as well If the
workingmen didn't ride.
In the course Of the forenoon, Mr.
Sands reported on the outlays made by
the company since it acquired the road
told of the. permanent improvements
made at a cost of something like Sll ,00C
in single year and Of the need in the
near future of ii new cars, at an ap-
proximate cost of $4,000, to replace II
of the Is cars now in use. The II men
toned, he said, had been in use l6 years
Power, ne contended, was obtained from
the Consolidated Lighting Co. at price
55 per cent below the regular price
charged. Officers of the traction ca
pany were serving without salariSs
continued, and the direct super M
the road as well az the ma oNN OF
the waiting room in Barre ySing as
sumed by the Consolidated Lighting Co
for the nominal sum of $4,000 per year.
Evidence introduced by counsel for the
company as well as the preliminary brief
combined to draw none too striking
picture Of a public utility that has been
struggling along for Is years without
dividends, experiencing occasional if not
regular yearly deficits. In outlining
briefly his case for the petitioners, Mr..
Ioa Iuo hn
the abolition of the workingmen's tick
cts will decrease the revenue, that the
workmen will certainly not pay five
cent fare on short ride and that the
lower fare in the first instance was es-
tablished for the purpose of getting bus
mess. Furthermore. it was abolished for
a short period in 1907 and then restored
voluntarily by the company then holding
the road.
Throughout the morning session. big
locomotive in the M. & w. r. freight
yards chugged annoyingly and at one
time the commission threatened to adj
iourn the proceedings to another part
of the building. Both. labor and per-
sons interested at one time or another in
the traction line, business men, and 9th
ers, crowded the court room.
This afternoon General Manager Sands
returned to the stand when the hearing
reconvened at l:30 o'clock A conspicu-
GUS feature of his testimony was the
qualification of statement which he
made in the forenoon regarding the COM
pany's attitude toward workingmen and
their cars. Mr.. Sands, replying to ques-
tions from Mr.. jackson, said that the
company would be better off if the work
ngmen didn't ride for two and half
cents per fare. As to the proposition
that the workingmen pay five cent fares,
he replied that the company desires all
Of the business OF that kind that it can
yet.
Witness further declared that the plan
10 abolish the lower fare was the initial
step IN general scheme to augment
.he efficiency of the service and at the
'ame time to cut down expenses, mas
much as the heavy patronage of the
entailed the necessity of
operating an extra car on the main line
turing the rush hours and the extension
II the Washington street car service
rom Wiley street to Jones Bros plant.
Moreover he declared that the company
S going on the theory that the increased
patronage of workingmen's reduced fares
would be followed inevitably by de-
nand for larger and increasing facilities
Is time goes on. Assuming that the
yorkingmen do not ride on the five cent
Gale, said Mr. Sands, we would readiust
,ur entire schedule. Asked as to the
letails of the proposed readiustment,
dr. Sands said he couldn't outline the
proposed change in brief form. The
witness admitted that the responsibility
or increasing workingmen's fares rest
d with him. A table showing the num-
'er of half fare tickets sold month by
month was admitted as an exhibit in
he hearing.