New Britain herald., 1915-12-16
COMMANDS CONN. co.
 TO OPEN UP TRAFFIC
Mayor Quigley Directs Trolley
 Officials to Get Busy at Once
RAILS ARE STILL BURIED
Public Service Corporation Accused of Sailing and Waiting for Warm Rain to Accomplish Same Results as Gang of Men.

Rain to Accomplish Same Results as
 Gang of Men.
 When the trolley situation was put up to Mayor Quigley this morning he immediately called up General Man ager J. K. Punderford at his office in New Haven and informed him that unless the Connecticut company got busy today and started opening up the north end lines, the city would under take the work the first thing tomor- row morning. The mayor also sent a note to the local office of the com pany to the same effect.
 The mayor waxed exceedingly in dignant over the situation here when seen at his office this morning. As the mayor sees it, the company is simply Stalling to save money. They have only twenty-five men at work, he said, and can't get more because all they will pay is $1.90 day, and labor is plentiful since the storm broke. Many men who work for contractors on out side work were thrown out of employ 1ment when the snow came and these can be secured if the company is will ing to pay top prices for labor.
 "I can get men to work" said the mayor, land there are plenty of blows in the hardware stores. Take it from me, unless they start work here on Main street tomorrow morning, I will open those lines with men and blows" As to whether the city could collect from the company for the expense, Mayor Quigley was uncertain, but wasn't worrying over that phase of the question. The mayor said Manager Punderford promised to open the lines and said he would get busy at once.
 Company Responds.
 The mayors edict or the threat to employ the city's legal forces to break the blockade evidently had an imme- diate effect on the trolley company. for the force of diggers which was channeling a way towards Berlin quit the job at the switch in Kensington and came back to the city with their work car and at once started work op- posite the National bank building shortly before noon
 Worst in City's History.
 Since electric transportation became
 
 ty years ago no such blockade has been experienced as during the pres. ent week and the public long suffer- ing is beginning to wax impatient and in many instances indignant. Up to last night the travelling public was willing to discount a whole lot in fa- vor of the trolley company because it was believed that it faced a stu pendous task, but as apparently little or nothing was being done to open up the city lines patience has ceased to be a virtue. In seventy-two hours not a wheel has turned on the north end lines. The North Stanley and East Main street lines went out of commission in the height of the storm Monday night and today the rails are still buried deep under a blanket of packed snow.
 Other Lines Are Nearly As Bad.
 An indignation meeting of an inform al character, but neverth eless full of pep, was held by Francis street and Belvidere residents last night and this morning E. O. Kilbourne, we'll recog- nized as a leading spirit in the north end suburban community, was up and to the attack bright and early. AL though he was able to obtain anything but a satisfactory promise of the de- sired relief from the trolley com panv officials, MT. Kilbourne managed to stir up things at City hall An ap- neal was made to the public works department with the result that City Engineer w. HI. Hall went into ex- ecutive session with Corporation Coun- sel J. E. Cooper with the aim of finding a legal crowbar that would start the slumbering trolley officials into something like human activity.
 Cars Running in Other Cities.
 New Britain is in worse state to- day from a traffic standpoint than any city or town in the state enjoying electric srevice. Other places were hard hit, but the officials put some ginger into the effort to break loose and succeeded. Hartford, Bristol and Manchester were up against the storm quite as bad as this city, but they had their lines open and were operating on schedule yesterday. Here in New Britain, a city of 50,0OO people, half the lines are out of commission and at the present rate of progress will re- main so indefinitely unless the wealth CT changes and nature does the work the trolley company seems unwilling or unable to perform. It is now claimed that economical reasons are responsible for the trolley company's inactivity. It costs money to dig out the lines, but if the company can stall along a few days more and the public will stand for it, a warm rain may providentially come to the rescue or the poor downtrodden public service corporation.
 Hartford Line Open
 The trolley company succeeded Tn opening the Hartford line at noon to-