The Washington herald., 1919-04-13
CONTINUED FROM PAGE FOUR.

rates again. most of us will have
to move to town. It is bad enough
to tolerate the bad service without
having to pay higher fares. 1 live
on the Rockville road. about four
miles out. 1t costs % cents a round
trip to town and back / visit in
Philadelphia frequently at a town
Just the distance from that city that
Rockville Is from Washington. The
round trip is thirty cents; the cars
run every half hour; they are heavy.
comfortable cars. the roadbed is of
the best and the trip consumes
twenty minutes. The cars run every
hour to Rockville; the cars are d.
lapidated, the roadbed very bad; the
ride takes one hour from Georgetown
and costs IS cents a round trip.
Every stranger who comes to town
is impressed by the poor service and
high prices of our car service. 1t Is
holding back the development Of
Washington more than any one thing
Washington can only grow by de7'
yeloping the suburbs, and they won't
develop II II takes all a man can earn
to pay the car fare of his family, in
cluding children going to school, who
usually have to ride on the cars. too.
The strange part of It all, to me, is
why they should be hard UP for
though the Washington Railway and
Electric Company may be under heav-
Ter expenses, they are carrying more
Passengers on all their lines than they
ever hoped or dreamed Of carrying
As say It costs 2 cents a round
trip from my house. I can walk across
in a straight line to Chevy Chase. get
a car every seven minutes, COM
Portable car that doesn't sway and
nauseate you to ride in because the
road bed Is good, and get TO town and
back for 10 cents and in less time.
The result Is that almost everybody
who wants TO go to the suburbs.
moves along that car line because of
its satisfactory service even though,
perhaps, they prefer the property along
the Rockville road. II the Capital
Traction Company can give such serv-
ice, why can't the W. R. and E. Com
pany? Because 1t Is badly managed.
Last night, for instance, had to wait
thirty minutes to get a car even as
far as the District line, while four
cars. going to the American Unlver-
sity. passed by during that period,
though the camp is no longer there
and the houses in that direction are
few and far between. That is a COM
mon occurrence. That Is only one
sample OF the bad management Of the
road. But II I get started on the sub
ject OF The Washington Railway and
Electric Company I will never stop.
Tor having ridden on their lines for
about thirteen years, could fill vol
umes with their inefficiency and bad
management II is about time that
the government, or somebody with
the welfare Of the city and the public
at heart. took charge OF the company.
Inc patience of the public Is exhaust
ed. 1t seems a shame that Washing
ton the Capital of this great nation,
where, sooner or later, people from all
parts OF the world come to. should be
dependent on two trolley companies,
and that one should be allowed to be
so unspeakably inefficient.
AS the thrillers OF a three-ring cir
Gus are to the old-time tanbari show
or the crossroads, so will be the stunts
provided for the coming drive for
the Victory Loan compared with all
previous campaigns. Some of the
new sensations have been announced.
but the half has not been foretoId.
Others may yet be added, but the
program is about complete.
The drive will start, with a bang on
the morning Of Monday, April p, and
keep on banging until Saturday
night. May 10, when It is hoped six
or seven billion dollars of their coun-
try's l. o. Us will have been bought
by the people to help make up the
war deficiency.
That will be followed almost imne-
diately by the Salvation Army drive
for H2.0oo.Ooo. which will begin on NAV
- and continue to May 26 Mrs.
Louis BrOwnlow will head the wom-
ans committee OF the drive in Wash
ington and will have several hund-
dred women serving under her d.
rection- Earl Goodwin, who is chair
man Of the drive in Washington,
couldn't have picked out a more ca
paOle woman than Mrs. Brownlow