The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-03

"A, ,209.
 l In Mr. Willcox's annual report to Governor Hughes for 1909, he report ed (vol. 3, page 521) 2S,950 persons in- i jured and 265 killed by the various transportation lines in New York city I during the year, and the decision of the commission on hearing Wol 2, page 528) on hours of labor of train dispatchers and tower switcnnen on the Brooklyn. Bridge Division of the Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company, as follows:
 "BROOKLYN HEIGHTS RAIL ROAD COMPANY.-Hours of labor of train dispatchers and tower switch men on the Bridge Division. l Case No. 503. Opinion of the Com mission Discontinuance Order: | This proceeding was begun in 1908 upon motion of the Commission to determine whether the hours of train ldispatchers ron the Bridge Division 1 should be changed from ten hours per l day to eight hours per day. A hear 1 ing was held in 1908.
 | Opinion of the Commission. (Adopt- ed August 3, 1909.
 Commissioner Bassett;
 l The Transit Inspection Department 1 of the Commission called attention to the fact that men employed by the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad Company at the terminals of the Brooklyn Bridge worked 12 hours day, and expressed the opinion that these long hours were a source of dan ger to the travelling public. Subjoin- ed to the communication were items showing the number of hours that various bridge railroad men were en- i iployed At, the request of the Com mission the undersigned singled out certain of the positions that appeared to be most intimately connected with l train operation and prepared a hear ing order in respect to the employ ment of dispatches and switchmen. This order was duly passed, being No. 503, and the undersigned was desig- mated to conduct the hearing.
 It was disclosed that none of such employees if, he fell asleep would be likely to cause an accident. The req son for this is that the interlock1ng switch system is installed at every point upon. the bridge, and if a switch man should fall asleep he would simply tie up the system, or his part ! of the system, until someone took his place. The so-called dispatchers were shown to be platform men, who do not have the control of train move ments. The men who work 12 hours received better pay than the short time men and the places are much sought after. = l It does not appear that the length of working hours is in any way im- periling the safety of passengers. ! Having come to this conclusion it 1 does not appear to be necessary to l discuss other reasons that might oper- late as between employer and em- lploye to shorten hours of daily labor, I inasmuch as the Commission has con- sidered that it's main duty under the law is to supervise railroad transpor-
 tation in respect to it's safety and ade- Iquacy. As this hearing was not upon a complaint, but upon the motion of the Commission, it is not necessary that any final order should be made Thereupon, the Commission issued l the following order:
 | Case No. 503, Discontinuance Or der, August 3, 1909.
 l IN THE MATTER OF THE I Hearing on the Motion of the Com I mission on the Question of Improve
 ment in the Service of-tha- BROOK ILYN HEIGHTS RAILROAD COM 1 PANY, in Respect to Employment of Train Dispatchers and Tower Switch men on the Bridge Division.
 An order of the Commission, No. sos, having been made herein on the 18th day of May, 1908, directing that
 a hearing be had on May 29, 1908, and the hearing having been held before MT. Commissioner Bassett on May 28, 1 1908, and tHe report herein of MT. Commissioner Bassett having been 1 filed.
 It is ordered, That the above en- titled proceeding be and the same hereby Is discontinued"
 A copy of the record shows that at
 the hearing upon which the above decision was based only two witnesses
 were introduced, namely, MT. A. M. IDutton, superintendent of the Brook lyn Union Elevated Railroad Com
 pany and MT. Charles Steul, an in-
 spector of the Public Service Com
 mission, MT. Dutton, under the able leadership of MT. A. M Williams. lcounsel for the Brooklyn Union Ele-
 vated Railroad Company, testified at
 great length. first, that the men in Iquestion did work 12 hours each day
 as he termed it, in two tricks, one set
 of men working from a. m. to 6 D.
 m. and the other set throughout the
 night from p. m. to a. m. He
 testified that the trains were started by
 these men. but evidently having in
 mind the provisions of Article 2, Sec.
 of the Labor Law limiting the hours
 of labor to telegraph and telephone
 operators and sjgnalmen on surface,
 subway and elevated railroads to eight hours in 24. he testified at great length
 that these men had no control over
 the starting, dispatching or movement
 of trains. (Nobody was home and
 the cars, as reported by MT. Wilcox
 to Governor Hughes averaging 15,-
 263 per day. carrying 426,36 passen-
 gers per day and 54,726 passengers
 each way per hour during the rush
 hours started themselves.) The Com
 mission failed to examine any of the employees concerned, (they did not tcount) to determine their duties. the hours and days worked by them each year, or. to bring out who did control
 such starting, dispatching or moving
 of trains or if such men fell asleep
 through exhaustion. Superintendent
 Dutton indirectly conceded their re-
 sponsibility by testifying that he dis
 charged them if they fell asleep. I MT. Wilcox in his said annual re-
 port to Governor Hughes covering the
 matter did not give the rate of wages
 L