New-York tribune., 1918-08-21
East Side Branch Tied Up
3 Times, Forcing Crowds
to Walk to Work
Bondholder Objects
To "Wasted Trains"
Shonts Told Company Is
Giving Public Too Much
in Its Night Service

The East Side branch of the Inter
borough subway system suffered a
series Of relapses yesterday.
Service on the Lexington Avenue line
was suspended nearly half an hour dur
inc the morning rush period because OF
en- accident o Bronx Park express
between the i43th Street and Jackson
Avenue stations. Thousands We're de
layed from haif an ho,.r to an horr, and
most Of them had to walk to the Gle
vated ana scme had to pay second
fare.
Some iron rods proppcd up near a
switch box fell against the switches,
short -circuiting wires Two men, Rocco
Iatello. subway guard, OF 62o East
lS81h Street. and Anthony Simonc. an
Intelul ban carpenter, CT 24od Belmont
Avenue. were seriously burned, and
were taken to FcrGhasn Hospital.
Acciden; at Fulton Street
Anothe. temporary breakdown of the
East Side branch occurred at Fulton
Street, where another short-circuit &C
cident caused a delay OF several MIN
utes.
The third acc c.dent all but paralyzed
service on the east branch for nearly
an hour in the afternoon. The signal
system between Forty-second Street
and 125th Street collapsed al 3 o'clock.
and until the repair was made, an hour
later. trains had to crawl from station
to station. Thousands of passengers
decided that walking was a speeder
method of travel Thousands of others
laid an extra fare on the elevated and
surface lines.
Service Is Improved
The Interborough had recovered sufi-
GENTLY by o'clock to give better night
rush hour service on the east branch
than has been known since the "H"
system was opened. A total of twenty
nine expresses and locals, bound up
town. passed Brooklyn Bridge station
between 5 and 8 o'clock. Of these sew
cnteen were expresses and twelve To-
Gals. Monday night only twenty eX-
presses and locals pasesd the Brooklyn
tween and o'clock.
The Public Service Commission took
hand in the situation by ordering
the Interborough to increase its SER
vice on the East Side line to the ex-
tent of operating at least thirty trains
an hour between Brooklyn and Man
haitian. The commission found that
with the opening of the "H" system
many persons could be accommodated
a. hut hat N
Brooklyn traffic still depended on its
old means of transportation, which has
not been increased in service.
Investigation by the commission dis
closed that yesterday morning only
eleven trains left Borough Hall station
for Manhattan between and o'clock.
This service was increased to twenty
seven trains between and 9 o'clock.
The commission feels that this is not
enough and that at least thirty trains
an hour should be operated between
Brooklyn and Manhattan during the
rush hours, morning and evening.
lnterborough officials admitted that
it was hectic day, and that they have
had hard time of late with the East
Side lines. The official spokesman Of
the Interborough explained Mondays
bad service by stating that twenty
guards failed to show up for work, Grip
that failure of men to report for work
Monday mornings was a common rail-
way complaint"
More Take West Side Line
The West Side line showed that a
great deal Of passenger traffic had been
diverted to this branch of the subway
by reason of better service. The sew
enteen expresses and twenty locals
which passed Times Square station be-
tween and 6 o'clock were packed.
The trains ran with fair degree OF
regularity. Only once was there /.
serious gap in the express service
111a minutes.
AS climax to day which at times
rivalled the general mix-up and panic
resulting from the confusion over the
shuttle service between the Grand
Central and Times Square, since dis
continued. President Theodore P.
Shonts OF the New York City Railways
made public last night letter writ
ten to him and the directors of the
company by John Gambler Cobb, OF
Cobb Co.. 60 State Street, Boston.
Nr. Cobb represents the bondholders
of the New York Railways Company.
In this letter Mr.. Cobb demands &
curtallment of what he terms "non-re.
munerative service" to the point "a,
which the aggregate service rendered
the operating expenses, including the
interest on the bonds"
More Cars Called Waste
Mr.. Cobb admits the right OF the
public authorities to call for the run.
ming of certain cars which individual,
do not pay expenses, provided the ser.
vice in the aggregate is self-supporting
He states, however, that the aggregate
service is not self-supporting at pres
ent. and that the continuation of such
commemorative service constitutes q
clear waste and strip" Of the property
and dissipation of the company's as
acts.
"Any order of a public authority
which results in such dissipation OF as
sets ne continues, "is clearly con-
fscaSory and under the constitution is
absolutely illegal. No public authority
can call for service which in the aggre
gate is confiscatory."
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