Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-06-12
TRY TO SHOW TROLLEY co.
LOSING MUCH MONEY
CONTINUED from page u

concerning the traction company
further went on to say that as of
April 1928 the parent company has
advanced S4~10,S0O.36 and nothing in
| sight to get it back. A number of
questions were put to Mr.. Tingley by
men representing the people in this
territory. Questioned as to why the
company could not put the trolley
line on a paying basis stated that
the large increase in cost of main
tenance was one of the reasons.
The population in this territory is
not dense enough to sustain an cleo
trio road and then with present i'm
proved highways and automobile
owners there seems to be little in
crease in traffic on our line" Mr..
Tingley responded.
Speaking of the separation of the
traction company from Monmouth
and MiddleseX Light company, the
latter being a well paying corpora
ton, Mr.. Tingley said that it was
done with the approval of the util-
.ity commission and that at the time
of the splitting of the two companies
there was no plan to abandon the
traction company although it was
KNOW litdl lIlt ll4t was IOl pay us
Replying 10 several questions thai
the company some years ago intend
ed to abandon the line and eventu-
ally brought about the separation
was strongly denied by Mr.. Tingley.
The present cost of the line is a
little over thirty-five cents a mile
the witnes said and in order to de-
crease the operating expenses an in
vestment would %necessitate about a
half million dollars to fix the tracks
and convert the present cars into
one-man operating cars. An lnyest-
ment of that sum would probably
bring the operating expense to thirty
cents, he said, but doubted whether
any finances would be available from
any source for the experimenting
plan. Responding to queries, he said
that at the time the two companies
were separated public hearings were
held. Mr.. Tingley at the conclusion
OF a forty minute testimony, admit
ted that the company has not done
the necessary repairs as instructed
by the utility board, due to shortage
of funds.
II. L. Megargee, assistant to Vice
President Tingley was the next wit
ness. He was examined, cross-ex-
amined by the delegates and had
ready figures to most of the ques-
tons. Under the direction of Attor.
ney Gill, the witness under oath X
planned an analysis of operating ex-
ating expenses, taxes, maintenance
come from 1918 to 1928. The oper-
ating expenses, taxes, maintainance
ways, structures, equipment, power
conducting, transportation, traffic,
depreciation and miscellaneous in
1918 were $245,116.75. In the year
of 1919 they amounted to $275,0SS,
in 1920 the figures show a sum oil
$2S1,5S9.05, in 1921 the amount
jumped to $685., 1920. In 1922 the
sum of 1921, 531.27, while for the
four months ended April 80 of this
year a figure of $103,114.S6 is shown.
Mr.. Megargee then introduced
figures to show that the company has
failed to earn operating expenses in
1921 to a sum of $24 1000, in 1922
the sum of $4,000 and in the foul
months ending April, 1923 the sum
of $29,720. The total of the
trolley company for year 1918 was
S2S3,614.34, in 1919 it came to S317,-
174.50, while in 1920 it decreased tc
$273,S0S.05, increasing again in 1921
to s311,694.6S, and again decreas-
ing in 1922 to $293, 539.68.
Mr.. Megagree willingly responded
to the questions put to him by mu-
nicipal delegates and whenever some
suggestion was brought up such as
a five cent fare, a coming plan and
he quickly retorted that any
all of the plans were futile. THE
people I not here and in any way
you figure the business is not here"
he pleaded.
He also stated that the trolley
does not serve Perth Amboy proper
nor does it in Red Bank. He be-
lieved that the South Amboy-Perth
Amboy Il was the most renumera-
William II. Hitchcock, general
manager of the traction company
was the third and final witness. He
presented a list of expenditures
needed for the immediate repair OF
the tracks, ETC., bringing the sum &c
S92,794. A total of 1866 ,047 would
be required to bring the roadbeds III
proper condition as required by the
and municipal authorities. IT
an anwer to a suggestion made by
Harry V. Roberts to reduce the SER
wee ana reduce the IIfee SilllIS LC
two shifts, Mr.. Hitchcock believed
that any such plan would not bring
any increased revenue that would
make the road pay. Like the for
mer witness, he insisted that the
line is dead loss from every point
of view. He declared that the u s
gestion to operate a n man car
could not be effected until new
equipment is put into operation
The present large cars cannot be
operated by one man he said and
pointed out the many dangers now
in existence. The greatest detri-
ment 10 our business today is the