Evening star., 1922-10-02
VOICES. PROTEST
OF ONE-MAN CARS
w. Nick. Clayton Declares
They Cannot Properly <.
Be Operated.
SAYS SYSTEM is UNSAFE
Insists Railway Companies Should
Not Introduce Such Limited
= Service Within the City.

That the operators of the one-man
street cars of the Washington Rail
| way and Electric Company are unable
a manner as they should is the opin-
ion of w. Nick. Clayton, member of
the Brightwood Citizens Association
and chairman of the public utilities
committee of the Federation of Citi-
zens' Associa tons.
Mr.. Clayton, who has made a study
of the operation of the one-man cars
, now being run in certain sections of
] the city. declared today the men in
! charge of them are becoming quite
| nervous. THE men object to operat-
ing these cars. despite the fact that
they get cents per hour more for
this kind of service" he said
Too Much Work for One Man.
There is too much work imposed
upon a man. who has enough to do
to operate the car successfully in
watching out for traffic mad avoiding
collisions. without requiring him to
collect fares. make change andtissue
transfers. he added. The man oper-
ating the car certainly has enough
to do"
He contended also that if the rail-
way company is to operate such
type of cars it should not be in the
city where there is so much traffic.
He said he found that in other cities.
where such cars are operated. they
are placed on suburban lines, where
there is less traffic 1.-THE city is no
place for such cars" he added.
If the people are paying rate of
company the revenue set by the Pub
lie Utilities Commission as a fair
return on their Investment, they
should have the kind of vehicles they
desire to ride in. ahd. not be required
to use such types as the one-man car
The people pay a high rate of fare
cars they are crowded in with no re-
gard for their comfort" he said. Per
, sons who get on one of these ears do
not care to go to the rear. as the
operator would have them DO. be-
they are required to force their way
| through those who have crowded
about the front of the car"
Cites a Principle Objection.
Mr.: Clayton said one of the princi-
pal objections to the one-inan car
was the lack of safety. IN the event
of a fire on.the car, or a serious acci-
dent. if one of these cars was crowd
ed a panic would in all probability
result. ne sara. DeSpltc tHe idC't
that the railway company has pro-
vided lever at the rear door. which
is to be used in the event a hur
ried exit is needed. there are many
who ride on the cars who know moth
ing of this lever. And those who do.
as is generally the case in panic,
would forget all about it,"
He said that all of the levers on
these cars do not work properly. Re-
Gently one Of the levers failed to open
the door of the car, Mr.. Clayton said,
when it was tested. :HFhat might
have happened if there had been a
crowd on the car and some serious
accident had occurred and an effort
had been made to use that door lever
cannot be told" he said.
Levers Likely to Fail.
The fact that these levers are rare
| ly ever used would result in them
failing to work at some time, Mr..
Clayton contended. They remain
idle for great length of time" he
said, land as everything else, when
it is not used they get out of order"
Mr.. Clayton said he intends to
bring the matter of the operation of
the one-1nan cars in the city before
the Federation of Citizens Associa- =
tions for action. "The public of the
National Capital should not be re-
quired to ride on such cars" he said.
"They are disgrace to the city,