The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-02-29
A FUNNY Situation.

i Thursday and Friday theloficials of
the Burlington County Traction Com
pany were in Camden endeavoring to
convince the Public Utility Commission
that it is necessary to have an increase
in trolley fares between Burlington and
Moorestown and change from half
hour to an hour service. The testimony
on the part of the petitioners was to the
effect that the road needs the money
land that unless something is done along
that line the future of the road was not
Isure.
To make good showing for their side
the trolley people had men who pro-
fessed to be electrical experts to testify
as to the various good points of the road.
All of them seemed to agree that the
roadbed is in fair" condition, notwith-
standing the rocking and rolling of the
cars when making their trips between
the places mentioned. One of the offiic-
ials of the road said there had not been
any trouble in keeping the cars on the
track; there had not been any running
loft.
When the hearing was completed Fri
day those who had been in attendance
returned to their respective homes, some
of them going on the "safe" trolleys
which do not run off the track" In
the latter party were president Haines,
John D. johnson, Jr., and superinten-
dent Edwin c. Davis, all of whom sat
with satisfied feeling that the road was
in fair" condition. There were others
on the car who had testified otherwise,
but then they were prejudiced, you
know" The car had gone but short
distance from the long crossing near
Moorestown when there was sudden
humping and jerking and the car was
finally brought to full stop. Superin-
tendent Davis, president Haines and
director Johnson got out to see what the
matter was and discovered that the cars
of the company we're liable to jump the
track and, despite the testimony of ex-
perts, that particular spot was not in
fair" condition. The ties had given
out at certain places and the rails had
spread, letting the carwheels drop be-
tween the rails and the car bumped over
the ties for about 100 feet.
After finding that no serious injury
had been done and thankful that the
car had not toppled over into the ditch
alongside the track, the passengers be-
gan to guy the officials to such an ex-
tent that the latter preferred to stay out
in the rain rather than return to the car.
Superintendent Davis did not have any
time to fool hanging around to be chat
fed by the passengers and he hoisted his
umbrella and silently stole away, going
up the track where he met a car coming
| from Mount Holly. When this reached
the spot where the road was not in fair
condition, the passengers were allowed
to alight and foot it to their destination
Ia pleasant occupation on a rainy
night, a trip of about two miles. In
this party was one lady. The wagons of
the Moorestown laundry happened along
and the driver said they had room for
one, so the lady was put in one of the
wagons, and the men tramped. The
passengers on the derailed car were put
on the other and were carried to Mount
Holly, reaching here 25 minutes late.
1t was peculiar circumstance that
the rails did not spread until after the
testimony giving the road such good
name had all been presented. 1t is also
fortunate that the car ran on the ties in
stead of going over into the ditch, thus
saving suits for damages, as someone
would certainly have been hurt if the
latter had happened. The occurrence
also showed the value of expert testi-
mony which is not always absolutely
correct, although the person giving it
may be perfectly honest in telling his
story, and it also shows that the officials
of the road apparently did not have a
thorough knowledge of the condition OF
their property when they testified that
the road was in fair condition.