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

E. glneer. He began to give his evident
d on the condition of the plant of ths
company when he was interrupted b
t. Mr.. Killie who put in an objection
S the testimony on the ground that TIL
n witness was contradicting what tn
J. other expert had said and Mr.. Kill
t did not think the other side had
+ right to contradict their own witnes:
a President Donges said the testimon
n would be taken for what it was worth
r Witness proceeded to tell that tn
. plant is 10 years old and is practically
obsolete. The engines never wer
, economical and the repairs were ex
pensive. He recommended the dis
4 continuance of the plant, using it onl,
. on special occasions. The purchase o
. power would be very little different il
cost from placing the plant in order
, In looking over the condition of tn,
I road he felt that it was being conduct
, ed as well as it can be. The wages Of
! the employees are lower than those paiC
, by other companies. He believed the
. cost of maintenance in the near future
, would be increased $4,000 to $4,000 pei
year, basing his views on the increase or
the cost of material He had observ.
ed the travel on the road during sew.
eral days and did not think it warrant
ed half-hour service. Hour service
would decrease the cost of running ex-
penses, but the cost of maintaining the
roadbed would be about the same. He
figured the value of the plant to-day
at $275,0O0 to 100000. The cars are
fair for ten years yet. Asked if he
had taken into consideration the re-
duction of revenue by loss of passen-
gers, witness said he thought the net
results would be as great He did not
think it economy to employ electrical
engineers to run the road.
Lewis Richards was the next wit
ness. He was called to refute some of the
statements made by Armitt H. Coate
and to tell about his contract with the
company. He came to Mount Holly to
| close contract for one year. His du-
ties were to take charge of the road
and discover what shape it was in. If
he made the necessary repairs and
saved the company $4,000 he was to
get bonus of 5000. When he went to
Hainesport he found affairs in a de-
MI h1a nA,.Isks1.,
make two or three round trips and
then have to be taken off because of
their disability. "Cripples" had been
sent out only to be withdrawn after a
single trip. He got to work on the
cars and had them repainted, put on
new wheels, having found fiat wheels
and wheels with broken flanges. He
instructed motormen how to control
motors. He found they were in the
habit of starting cars with the air
brakes on. This was because the
wheels were so worn that the cars
would start with jerk and the air
brakes being on allowed the jerking
to be overcome. He put the plant in
good working shape and left it that
way. He did not do very much to the
roadbed as he was only allowed ten
men as working force He thought
the plant could be put in fine condi-
ton for $4,000 and the annual ex-
pense of working would be $1,000 to
81 500 ger year. The cars can be put
in shape for a small cost. On cap
italization of $4,000 the receipts are
about right, but the expenses are too
great. He never advised increase in
fares, but had advised that the wages
of employees be increased. An hourly
service would take care of the travel
some portions of the day. With three
cars working and with hourly service
between Moorestown and Burlington
the expenses would of course be re-
duced. Questioned on the point of his
receiving bonus Mr.. Richards said
there were objections to his getting
the 5000 on the ground that he had
exceeded EXPENSES but the matter was
taken before the directors and it was
shown that Mr.. Coate had put in bills
amounting to $4,000 which he had
charged to the expense account of Mr.
Richards contract when, in fact, the
Indebtedness was incurred before that
contract was made. When the direc-
tors were shown the exact status of
the matter they voted t. ay the $780,
On cross-examination there was an
effort made to show th1t when Mr..
Richards left the employ of the COM
pany the Indebtedness was equal to
the $4,000 that had been deducted as
above stated but he said that was not
the case and that there was money in
the treasury with all bills paid. He
challenged the treasurer to produce
his books and deny this statement.
James T. Royle, member of the
township committee of Northampton,
testified that Edwin c. Davis made
the statement before the committee
that if the power plant was put in
good condition it would save $4,000 to
$4,000 annually.
Armitt H. Coate was recalled for
cross-examination He was asked
about going before the Business Mems
Association of Mount Holly in con-
ference on the subject of raising troll
ley fares. In answer to a question
whether he had said at that meeting
that the company was merely putting
up a bluff he said he did not recollect
such circumstance. He was shown a
paper which was his annual report for
1915 to the company and he admitted
that the paper was genuine. The
contents were read to him as follows:
"Your treasurer would most respect
fully call your attention to the de-
crease in the expense for operation
and repairs during the past year, also
the material increase in passenger re-
ceipts. This condition indicates an
encouraging and promising result on
behalf of the efforts of your officers
and board of directors, and we feel
that the finances of your company are
in much more healthy condition than
they were year ago. There are, at
this time, no unsettled accident claims
and very few unpaid bills so that it
may be conservatively estimated that
we will be in a position to maintain
dividend from four to five per cent
and in addition accumulate a surplus
account for continued betterments. 1t
is gratifying to report that negotia-
tons are well under way with the
Public Service Electric Company to-
ward the consummation of a contract
wherein said company will agree to
furnish our entire power requirements
from their BURLINGTON plant recently