Evening star., 1923-03-21
F|VE-CENT GAR FARE
SCOUTEDBY BOWEN
Vice President of W. R. & E.
, Says Rate Would Cripple
{ Transportation in D. c.

The possibility of operating the To-
cal street car systems under a, five
cent fare was secuted by S. r. Bowen,
vice president of the Washington
Railway and Electric Company. in an
address before the Petworth Citizens
Association at the organizations
public utilities night" meeting, held
at the Petworth Methodist Episcopal
Church. New Hampshire avenue and
Grant Circle last night.
"a ffve-cent fare would cripple the
whole transportation of the city. 1t
can't be done, so why keep up an
attack on company that is trying to
do its best to serve the public" de-
clared Mr.. Bowen. who pointed out
the huge increase in the cost of
operating and maintaining a public
utility.
Deplores Public's Attitude.
Mr.. Bowen deplored the attitude ot
the public in regard to corporations
and declared that in spite of the fact
that corporations were considered as
being far away from the human ele-
ment. they were merely aggregations
of human beings. He referred to the
public utilities as agencies of the
government and declared that when
private companies were found oper-
ating them 1t was to be assumed that
the government or city would not
assume the risk of operating them.
Therefore, he pointed out. those who
originally risked their capital in the
formation and continuance of these
companies should only in fairness
have proper return on their invest
ment.
"The public is unthinkingly misled
by statements that appear from time
TO time which are unverified by facts.
declared Mr.. Bowen, who denied that
the company had benefited to the
extent of six millions due to the in
crease in value of its stocks, had
been asserted in a local publication
recently.
Difficulties in Rush Hours.
The impossibility of getting seats
for every one in the rush hours was
shown by Mr.. Bowen, who stated
that the street car company which he
represents has to haul 1850 persons
in a thirty-minute period during the
rush hours, as compared with 2l2
persons in the normal periods
Mr.. Bowen urged cooperation on
the part Of the public with the local
public utilities and declared that un-
less the utilities met the demands
made upon them the city itself would
not progress.
Address on Gas Manufacture.
T. B. Hooper OF the Washington Gas
Light Company addressed the asso-
citation on The Processes in the
Manufacturing of Gas" He illustrated
the methods of manufacturing by
means of a chart and declared that
the local company had 575 miles of
gas mains in operation and maintain
ed pressure gauges in fire depart
ment engine houses all over the city,
In order to watch closely the gas re-
quirements of the city. The city uses
from 100000 to from 100000 to
100000 cubic feet of gas per hour,
dependent upon the time of the day,
pointed out Mr.. Hooper. :.
Several members from the Chesa-
peake and Potamac Telephone Com
pany gave demonstration Of the
inside workings of telephone eX-
change.
Additional Police Judge Urged.
The association approved the es-
tablishment of an extra division in
the local Police Court. with the crea-
tion Of d judge to preside over it in
order to cope with increasing bust
ness. A copy of tho resolution adopt
ed in regard to the matter will be
forwarded to the chairman of the
Senate and House District commit
tees and to the Commissioners.
A number of new members were
admitted They were Herbert W.
Marlatt, Frank P. Gillian. James *.
Utley. William ]. Armstrong, Frank
J. Weber, Roland P. Harrington, Will
Ian S. Ward, w. s. Gochenour, DR..
Leo Colodny, Stephen James, Samuel
f. Martin, r. f. Elgin, w F. Raymond.
James r. Henkel, Geraldine NJ. Hen
kel, Harry L. Artz. Laurence Beebe.
Joseph Sanders. Benjamin B. Bialek:
William L. Watson. j. A. Brooke and
Jacob l.. ZaSs.
A musical program was provided
by Miss Jeanne Riedlinger. Garth
Beaver, Frances Gutelius and Ernest
Fernald.