The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-04-21
Further Evidence on Con-
ditiOn of Local Street
Railroad
REFORMER TO BLAME
CLAIM OF DEFENSE

AudS AneiLAaIeS IndC EcI1-
ton to Public Service Board is Re
suit OF Dispute Between Him and
Newspaper Interests.
The facts brought out Yesterday af
-ernoon III q three-hours hearing bel
fore the public service commission on
4 petition signed by taxpayers of
Brattleboro protesting against the con-
iition Of the street railway and its
equipment and asking for better SER
wee may be summarized as follows:
No one of the complaining wit
nesses had ever made direct com
plant TO an officer of the company
except one, who had complained of
flat wheels.
The complaining witnesses adj
mltted the roadbed to be in as
good condition as usual in the
spring of the year
The company admitted that car
No. was not in ideal condition.
but said il was used only as a
spare ear.
The company officials look upon
the petition to the commission as
the result of disagreement between
Manager f. NJ. Adds of the com
pany and one of the editors of
The Rcformer.
supt. A. L. Tfipp admitted that
there were many bad rail Joints,
but said there were no fat wheels
now
Carlos K Jones. who was superin-
tendent of the road for nine wears up
to 1907, was on the witness stand when
The Reformer went to press Yesterday.
He testified that ear No. 5 was in
fairly good condition for one run 20
years and the light Taylor trucks have
been constantly repaired and built up.
Car No. ; he had ridden in once this
winter. 1t is badly racked. he said.
the body being broken. and windows
and seats work. He thought at the
time that it was not safe with a heavy
load and at high speed
The roadbed was ''bump when It
was built. Of very cheap construc-
tion. Lots of the joints of the rails
between Main street and West Brat
tleboro are beyond bettering by tamp-
ing. Between the common and the
carbarn there are between SO and T0
joints that are flattened. The rails
must be cut off at the ends and butted
up against each other to remedy that
trouble. When he was superintendent
gang of men was put at work on
the track in the spring with the idea
of finishing it in SIX weeks When he
was superintendent he always consid
cred that four closed cars were little
enough to have on hand for the work
required. Now there are only three
Some of the cushions in the ears arc
- obsolete =
Attorney w. r. Daley for the rail
road wanted to know more about cal
No. ) and Mr.. Jones said that it sway
ed under him - don t want to ride
in it, he said. An extra ear, which
Elbridge L. Knowlton, the previou.
witness, had testified was run between
11.20 a. m. and 9.20 p. m, when he was
with the road, had been taken off dur
ing Mr.. Jones s term as superintendent
because S'in our opinion the traffic dtt
not warrant it.
Attorney f. d. E. Stowe, county
clerk and one of the signers of the pc
tition, considered the closed cars yer,
bad. Car No. he considered unsaf,
for many women to ride in and som,
men. It is loose jointed and tht
cushions are some old ones from
church that were discarded by the
church and made use of by the ca
company. In the afternoons the ear
are generally crowded, although at tn
hours when he is accustomed to rid
there is usually enough room. |
seemed to him as If at least one-thir
of the time there were flat wheels o.
some of the ears.
Asked on eross-examination if h
had ever complained about any of tn
| faults of the road, he replied that h
had many times but never at the hea
office He presumed he would hav
done that if he could have found
central office He had signed the pc
tition and had obtained some of tn
names on it and had previously signe
another and had wondered what ha
become of it. He had talked all wiz
ter about the condition of the car
and was glad of a chance to do
again.
Arthur P. Simonds complained of tn
ventilation, or lack of it. A year ag
when he was making frequent trips
the Memorial hospital he spoke abou
!, it frequently to conductors, but the
replied thew could do nothing. He ha
never seen a ventilator open exceT
when the glass in it was broken. Tt
conductors told him they could nc
open the ventilators and heat the ca
!, He thought the company would .
enough extra business to pay the il
terest on the investment for two ne
2 cars
| On cross examination he knew tt
!. board of trade had started the agit
: xct4:.,o1 IN paoo .