New-York tribune., 1922-03-24
|. II. 7. Plea
For Sc Fare
l. Rejected
Continued from page ono

the rental guaranty, had been elimi-
mated the combined IntcrborouEh sys-
tenn would have shown surplus for
the year OF $ls0,3G0, as against a re-
ported deficit Of S3.7l9,G30
Mr.. HedlcY succeeded Mr.. Lindars on
the stand. He cited dozen instances
involving thousands Of dollars in which
the city through tho Board of Estimate
had refused to provide funds for the
completion and construction of needed
facilities under the contract. He re
fcrrcd TO the companYs purchase Of
500 new cars, for which yard and shop
and inspection facilities have not been
provided by the city. He said on &C
count of the failure Of the city to live
up to it's contract it was necessary to
do all the installation and construction
work in the Manhattan elevated shops
and to use the center tracks for storage
purposes. He also referred to the de
lay in getting the Livonin Avenue eX-
/ tension in Brooklyn under opcration
! aging that not until last week did the
BOARD Of Estimate appropriate money
Tor the construction Of q necessary
signal tower, costing mere $4,000 or
$4,000, FOR the lack Of which tho cX-
tension could not be safely operated
Bames City for Shuttle
Mr.. Hedley referred to the shuttle
service at the Grand Central Station
and Times Square aS "abominablc.' and
this condition he also blamed on the
city. He said that from 10000 to 100
1000 persons get of at the Grand Central
| Station every day. while as n matter of
fact they DO not wish TO get Of there
al ALL their destination being Times
Square or some other point
-.
the platform and miuGle with the crowd
there, making conditions almost into-
cradle during the rush hours" said Mr
llcdleN. "Thc others go up in the
elevator and finally lard ON the mczza-
nine floor and wander through those
long passageways and finally get
shuttle trajn.'
Corporation Counsel OBrjcn, who
came bit late. apparently did not like
the mild manner Of Mr.. Hcdlcy in get
ting testimony on the record After
standing it for while he blazed forth
with the charge that the session was
"an albi meeting" and that the tes-
timouy was being diverted TO make
the Board of Estimate appPor solely to
blame for the present bad subway CON
ditions.
Judge Shearn tried to interpose OBJ
loctionS, but the booming voice Of Mr..
O'Brien bowlcd him out as the city's
counsel plunged ahead, saying:
81 mean what | say it's an alibi
session. Let Mr. IIcdley tell all his
excuses for poor service, and let's have
the full story on tho record Let -
Chairman McAneny's gavel came
down with rcsounding whack, and he
said:
Preferences to an 'alibi meeting can
be taken for what they are usually
worth"
This remark made Mr. OBricn poev-
ish. and he said with an air of injury
that he was present not as n matter Of
courtesy, but as a right to protect the
city'S interests.
hen YOU relapse into your vernac-
uiar,' Chairman McAncny was at last
able to get in, intcrruptng a lengthy at
tack, "and become distastcfu to this
comm sslon 1t will not permit you to
proceed. If YOU have anything further
to say couchcd in proper language YOU
may go on
A snicker went around the room
Whcn MR.. Hcdioy spoke of as "prcfcr
| chCiaI standccs' large proportion Of
lhc passengers in the subways during
ruSh hours. The pres dent Of tho In
fcrborough said they constituted a
problem which it was almost wiscst to
Ignore, because inspection had re
FcaIed that their tendency was to stop
wherever tncy boarded a car, many
even refusing to 60 TO seat if there
was one. and especially when express
trans were two blocks long, being re-
Iuctant to hunt vacant seats. which
frequently were available in the end
cars OF the trains ''0
DO preferential standees' actually
exercise any preference or is it force
OF habit asked General O'Rvan.
preference, said Mr.. Hcdlcy.
Seats Only for Long Riders
Mr. Hedley said he did not think it
noccssary to provide seats for anv but
long distance riders and that it has
oeeh the policy of the company to reg
uIatc ITS car mileage according ia
whether people stood beyond two or
three express stations. Subway oX-
press service was rot what if shou1d
be, nor was it what it could be if thc
clty had lived mp to its contract Of
nInc years ago, he said. Mr. Hcdlcv
declared it was imposs siblc to give the
service the public ought to have under
the t1Ne-cent fare stipulated in the 1919
contract, because of losses suffered
during the war, which had not been
T1ecouped. The company was giving tho
best service it could with the money II
had, and during the rush hours morn
ing and night it had in use all of it's
equipment except per cent. He said
! ne had never known any railroad in
| the world to operate on such a close
margin. He said that improving the
service would depend upon the discoy-
cry, of new money for the company
and also on ful6llmcnt by the city Of
work under the existing contract in
order to provide new facilities, such as
yards, or new rolling stock that would
be needed He held the city especiallv
responsible for what he termed that
abomlnable shuttle service across For
ty-second Street,
Deficit of 81 ,997 900
Mr.. Hedlcy said the InteIborouph
will show a deficit of $l997 ,000 as Of
June 30, 1922. This deficit was the bal
ance between surplus on the subway
division Of So $4,000 and deficit on
tho elevated division Of $3.50 900 The
gross operating revenue of the two di-
visions was put at $50, 500, 600 and the
operating expenses at $33,1l7.OOO, or
$22,283,000 net.
"Thjs estimate" said Mr.. Hcdlcv.
takes into consideration all the econ
omIcS which the company expects to
lnaugurate, providing we get the
money to DO it with. 1t includes the
fixed charges that the Interborough
Fas to pay to keep out Of the hands of
a receiver. 1t necessarily includes the
IuIi Manhattan rental and the interest
and sinking fund on the Tnterborouph
os and on the notes, but it does not in
cIude any return out of the earnincs
OF the property OH the 4 IL nor car+