The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-03-09

WASHINGTON. j. C., NarcE g
/ Doc Beeler. the<New York traffic e&-
pert. is doing all sorts OF things 10 the
| street car system here to better han
! die the workers. w2r and Otherwise
| The slip.stop has been adopted, which
! eliminates about 500 stops, saves time
and speeds up. One Of the companies
hasn't bought a new car IN twenty
, five years, and is now in the market
! trying to find some The other DID
! get as far as placing an order loF
| couple OF dozen year ago, Dut 60 de-
! iiVeries have been made on the orGef
given. Another one OF the many lnno-
vations adopted to improve the ser
vice is the staggering system. rms
! is an arrangement made with owners
| of large department stores and the
government departments whereby they
! omen an6 close for the day at d1ierent
times OF the clock. This is expected
! 10 ease I'D the crush at the rush hours
! The big stores now conspicuousiy ad-
! ve,.tise what time open for business
and what time they close. down 10 tEe
minute. Loading platforms have been
built at crowded points and genera
Encouragement mas been effected at
those transfer sites where the tfalt!c
is prone 10 pile UP and schedules
! knocked gailywe51. Agitation for the
government to take over the Two COM
pet!ng lines and run them goes on anu
! Congress has a lew government owner
ship bills pjseonholed in various cou1-
mittees. Not only for the street ran
WAYS, but for the local telephone SEs-
TEN as well. Postmaster Burieson mas
formally oficred TO take over the 4@t-
Ter ana members OF the Senate have
IA, o,,FtnV-ifyg make SnCR
an offer. He promises adequate ser
vice at present rates. and the company
| has served notice that it is Impossible
for II 10 do that The company says
! that the demands of the government
made it what it is today, and for once
the company is telling the truth. IL
is BLAMED near ruined by the treEend
Gus extra business imposed by the
wars demands. AS the government
! owns or controls the District OF Co
| IuI1lbia and that which IS situated IN
| il that the p!utocratic grabbers OF all
good things haven't wanted. there IS
decidedly large and increasing seuti-
ment that now is the time and th;s Is
! the place to give the government own
ership experiment a most thorough
and complete test.
| The Capital is favorite. place for
the theatrical magnets TO open thelr
new productions here TO try II on tnS
| dog" as the saying goes in theatrical
| circles We have had batch Of pre-
niers this season, a majority OF them
decidedly Indifferent. a few are stun
running in New York, out there IS a
lbunch OF them in the store house there.
| one. which il Il escapes the latter sao
| fate is Icing seen here this week. the
| prominence and popularity OF its two
! stars and the entrapment OF the Presl-
dent in giving it a mild endorsement
may serve to prolonS an existence
! which. Nv all the standards Of the the
atre isn't deserved. II was on the
opening night and the President. VINO
| is a most pronounced theatre fan, tax
/ inS them all in and playing no =vor-
| ties, was in his box with a party It's
! a war play, but Will not be renaem-
bered as one Of the great works OF
dramatic art born in the throes OF tn1s
| epSc struggle. But being war play,
ones patriotism may be chalIenSe0
who harshly criticises it. Neyerthe-
! less. the house was wei ''papered" and
I the clacue tuned up when the signal
| was given, the curtain being uGgereo
up and down, as a prelude to the cur
! tain speech that one knew instinctlVely
was coming. It came in short inter
; val. The star fairly hurled it across
the footlights as if he was pushed for
! time to catch train. He ended by
J turning toward the Presidents box and
saving maybe the President would say
I a word. Immediately. there was afdem-
I oustration for the Presideut-Aardly
| for the play or players and there
was nothing for him to do but to arise,
thank the audience and p4ayeES ana
! say how much be had enjoyed me e.