New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-28

] on the dNGl4dOIt i'SNi'N SfFf''
/ the cause of the shutdown.
Although his evidence showed that
| the company could have secured
! ercugh coal in the open market for the
emergency, or could have obtained
| limited supply of current from the
| Edison company. he said no effort had
/ been made TO do either 10 safeguard
the public transportation.
Mr.. Ross defended the Berwlnd-
! Wlite company in saying that IL mao
1 fulfilled its contracts by supplying coal
wherever called upon.
At this point Commissioners Hay.
ward and Whitney pointed out the TACT
that the Berwind company had falled
70 deliver coal TO the power house on
Saturday. Mr.. Ross was asked II inc
officials of the Interborough had failed
to avail themselves of the rights OF the
company under the contract.
Shoulders Entire Blame
you mean that it was entirely the
fault of the officers and employees OF
the PETERBOROUGH, and not the Ber-
wind company" asked Mr.. Whitney.
"Yes. Every time | have spoken TO
Mr. Berwind of Goa! shortage the de-
livery has been made. The first time |
knew Of the shortage was on Saturday
Commissioner Hayward asked Ross
if the Consolidation Coal Company,
which also supplies the lnterborough
power stations with fuel, had failed in
any Of its deliveries. He said that the
Consolidation company had not.
Now, then, Mr.. Ross" asked Com
missioner Hayward, "if Mr.. Berwind
had not been a director of the Inter
borough, if he had not been a business
associate. would ne have been treated
with as much consideration as he was ~
"Hc would" said Mr.. Ross.
every WE'LL" replied Colonel Hay
ward "Then when are you going TO
get after Mr.. Berwind under this con-
tract? When are you going TO serve
! the twelve-hour notice, as required I'M
der the contract. that you are IN need
of coal, and give him notice of your
intention of going into the open mar
ket >"
Il will consult our law forces" he
answered
Mr. Ransom then took the witness IN
hand and asked him:
"Do YOU know that there exists in
this city a pooling committee formed
for the purpose of protecting public
service corporations by having coal on
nand which any of the corporations
can obtain at market prices?' he asked.
! Eyes; ! attended the meeting at
which the pool was formed was the
reply.
( You could have obtained coal at any
time through this committee, and yet
. you never asked for it?"
Relied on Berwind Contract
eve relied on our contract with Mr..
] Berwind. We should have called on
, the committee only when our con-
; tractor had failed US"
When Mr.. Berwind was on the stand
/ ne was asked by Commissioner Whit
director Of the lnterborough because Of
/ the breakdown in the organization
which caused Saturdays tie-up.
/ He said that. although he was not
sure that anyone was culpably TO blame,
. if such was found TO be the case the
guilty party would be disciplined.
Commissioner Hayward at this point.
directed Mr. Berwird to report TO the
commission this morning and TO bring
with him all the Books and records OF
the Bcrwind White Company.
Colonel Vanderbilt en- Stand
( At the morning session Colonel ". X.
Vanderbilt, a director of the INTERIOR
ough was the first witness called. He
recalled, after some questioning by Mr..
Ransom. that at directors meeting
/ last year the coal supply was dis
cussed. He said hat there had been
some general talk that the INTERIOR
ough was running close. He said that
the question of obtaining d reserve sup
ply for the power stations was never
called to the attention of the COM
mittee.
Mr.. Lawrance, the mechanical en-
cineer of the marlborough, testified
that he was head of the department
that ordered the coal. He explained
that the usual method employed was
for a clerk to call up the Berwind
White company and tell them how
much would be required for the i'm
mediate needs of the station. He
said however, that he never did the
ordering himself.
Persistent questioning By Mr.. Pan
/ som brought out the fact that he had
several times reported to the down
town Offices that he was running dan
gerously close.
Swami Ready TO Investigate
District Attorney Swami said last
HlE0l lHdI IA Criminal lcNpVHelD'l''S
was placed on any Of the directors or
officials of the lnterborough for the
tie-up the subject would be invcsti-
gated by the grand jury.
Mayor Mitchell last night received
letter from the League for Municipal
Ownership, asking him 20 terminate
the dual subway contracts. The letter,
which was sent by Benjamin Marsh,
I secretary of the league said that the
shutdown of the entire subway system
on Saturday gave him the power 70
I break the contracts.
IA Hurt When Lift
Falls Nine Stories