Evening star., 1925-12-30

came as a dlstlnct surprise To public
utilities experts VIII" regard the move
as another definite step toward
voluntary merger of the hus systems
The undercurTe of opinion also indi-
Gated Willingness on the part of the
North American Co. new owners Of
the Ira Co. to unity the hus sys-
TEN So that service without harmful
competition could '.e given
Will Oner Substitute.
Mr.. Hoover told the commission
that officials of the bus comma nv
and the Capital Traction co. would
confer and fram composite petition
10 he filed in lieu Of several petitions
now pending for extension of bus
routes. John II Hanna vice presi
dent Of the Capital Traction CO.. i'm
mediately expressed the desire of his
company to confer with officials of
the bus company nd proposed that
the petition of the street car com
panN for permission to operate bus
line downtown on sixteenth street he
post poned.
After the two Compa nies had indi-
Gated their intention to cooperate IL
was obvious that the commission ia
vored the submission OF co-opera.
tive plan and agreed readily to defer
e.
William Nick. CLAYTON. chairman Of
the utilities committee Of the Fed
GRAFTON of Citizens Associations like
wise voiced his approval Of the pro.
cedure.
Amendment Sought.
The petitions which the commission
had before it At the hearing included
request for extension OF the bus line
of the Washington Rapid Transit Co.
from Buchanan to Longfellow street
on the Silver Spring route. and a re-
quest for the amendment of two pa ara :
graphs in = recent order authorizing
opera ton OF the line.
The bus company asked that local
passengers may he carried in the Dis
trict Of Columbia as authorized under
existing permits" and that the profit
and loss and other financial accounts
of the Maryland extension OF the com
pany he kept separate and distinct
from the accounts Of the operation
within the District OF Columbia. -
Under the present order the latter
paragraph provides that all materials.
expenditures for labor. work of EN-,
ployes and buses. shall be kept sep
arate in the reports OF the, compa ny.
$4,000 Lost Monthly.
The present Silver Spring bus line,
according to F.. w. Doolittle, vice
president Of the North American Co.,
cannot continue 10 operate under it's
present mana cement unless the losses
of 50 900 month now being sustained
are count erbal la need in some way.
The bus and traction compa mics an
nounced that they would hold con
ference in the near future In an effort
to work out plan by which service
in the territory reached by the Silver
Spring line could he improved.
When the hearing opened at l
o'clock this afternoon Mr.. Clayton
presented his petition for reduction
in fares on the lines OF the Washing-
ton Rapid Ira nSit Co. from five tokens
for As cents to six tokens for 40 cents.
Mr.. Clayton also petitioned for re-
ciprocal transfers without additional
charge to car or bus riders at Thir-
teenth and F streets and at Seventh
! street and Pennsylvania avenue, and
that the tokens of the street railway
lines and the busses be interchange
! BILE.
Nine Points Presented.
Nine arguments designed to show
that the company can reduce its fare
/ to six tokens for 40 cents and still
I earn a Ia1r return are get 1Orth IN the
brief. The chief one contended that
the company earned a return of 21.3
per cent on it's investment during the
| first eleven months OF the current
! calendar year.
Another point brought out by Mr..
Cla yton was to the effect that the de.
| probation set up by the company is
excessive; that $4,000 is charged
! against maintenance for advertising as
| well as an item of $1,000 for legal ex.
penses and $4,000 for accident insur.
| ance.
! Mr.. Clayton also pointed out that
amounting to $4,000 a year lis not
only unfair and unjust to bus riders,
who must pay it through their fares,
| but wasteful and prohigate in man.