New-York tribune., 1915-03-02
"Say How Many and I'll
Put Them On" Writes
Whitridge,
INSPECTORS REPORT
IMPROVED SERVICE
Health Commissioned Promises
TO Go After Subway and
b. K. T. Soon.

The Health Department has oDraineu
action in the Improvement OF transit
facilities in Fifty-ninth Street ana
Tenth Avenue where the Public Ser
vice Commission failed.
In caustic letter TO DR.. Goldwater'
Commissioner Of Health, F. W. Whlt-
ridge, president of the Third Avenue
Railway Company. stated yesterday
that his company would conform 10 the
order of the department, which de-
mands enough crosstown ears on
Fifty-ninth Street and enough Tenth
Avenue cars between Fifty-fourth and
Fifty-ninth Streets to insure 1.-THE total
number Of passengers not exceeding
one and one-half times the seating ca
pacity of the car"
Mr.. Whitridge begins by denying the
jurisdiction Of the Commissioner.
"On the face of it. that order is oh.
vicusly not within your jurlsdlcton'
runs the letter. 81 notice, however, IN
the press that you have apparently DIS
covered something or other which you
think confers upon you such Jurlsdlc-
tion. ] think we are entitled to nave
a statement of what that is, and shall
be much obliged if you will be good
enough TO send il TO me.
"Say How Many"
Assuming that the Public Service
Commission has abdicated in your
favor. or that for some other reason
I am 20 recognize this order, beg TO
say that if you will kindly translate
il into a statement Of how many add
tional cars you wish to have run on
the belt line | will put those cars into
service with pleasure, bu. before tax
ing that action ] invite your attention
t. the following considerations"
The frs, of the considerations" IS
that during the rush hours the cars
on the FIfty-ninth Street Railway are
run on ffty-hve-second headway
and that practically no more
cars can be run"
The second is that at is quite i'm
possible TO divide the passengers
among the cars as you wish q.
and that where there are two or three
cars standing the public insists on
getting into the first car"
He SAYS that while the tables Of
.he Public Service Commission OBJ
servers have never seemed TO - based
on common sense yet these valuable
documents show that "within the last
few months less than half the .ars run
on this line have had any p' .enCcrs
standing. and in no case did ie num-
Der Of those standing eXcee- J' ner
cent Of those seated"
con these reports suggos Mr.
Whtr.dge, 81 hope that you Will re-
scind your order" to which Or. HOid-
water remarked that if the order was
already complied with there could be
no objection 10 ITS remaining in force.
Won't Promise to Fight.
"To do more than to undertake 70
put on as many cars as you specifically
demand ! cannot do" continued Mr..
Whitrdge. Conductors VIII be IN
structcd not to admit to the cars more
than the number Of people that you
think right, but we cannot be eX-
pecred TO use force to prevent the pas
sengcrs entering the car, still less to
eject them We must ask YOU to pro-
vide q sufficient force OF police at all
the junction POINTS TO accomplish the
results YOU desire"
Mr.. WhitrGge suggests in conclu-
sion that the "object of limiting the
number of passengers could be
achieved by "abolishing transfers, and
regrets that he does not see his way
"to educate the people to a change OF
THEN manners and customs
"Despite its crotchety tone" com
mcnts Dr. Goldwater, the letter was
frank acknowledgement that the pub
lie had rights. II is obvious that the
Department Of Health, thanks to the
broad terms Of the city charter, IS IN
position to defend those rights. Our
observers at Fifty-ninth Street report
that there are more cars on the line
than there were three days ago.
"Wc have received no official com
munlcation as yet from the New YORK
C.ty Railway Company in reference 10
the Eighty-sIxth Street line
DIR. Goldwater said his observers
would in a week begin an investigation
in the subway and that the INTERIOR
ough would be compelled, so Tar as pos
siblc, to improve matters. orders con-
cerning BROOKLYN lines might be ex-
! ba said