Evening star., 1927-05-21
citizens FAVOR
BUYING RAIL LINE
Purchase of Falls Church.
Fairfax Division of Electric
Road Is Probable.
speciaI pispatch 70 The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
CLARENDON, Va. May 21.-Pros-
poets of the people of Fairfax and
Arlington counties taking over con-
troll Of the Falls Church Fairfax di-
vision of the Washington & Virginia
Railway assumed brighter proportions
last night when representatives. of the
Chambers of Commerce of the two
counties and various civic organiza-
tions voted una nimously in favor OF
a plan to purchase the road.
The Endorsement of the plan came
after NJ. f.. Church and Thomas r.
Keith explained TO the gathering that
G. r. Hinchman of Philadelphia. who
recently purchased the road at auc-
tion. was willing to part with his
holdings for the amount he paid for
them. Sl50,00 and that If the people
did not arrange to purchase there
was strong possibility of the line
being abandoned. MIR. Church and
Mr.. Keith have obtained an option on
the railroad property until June /.
100000 Is Needed
Explaining that he and Mr.. Keith
were sponsoring the proposal from a
purely public-spirited standpoint, Mr..
Church said that it was the duty OF
every citizen of the counties affected
TO do ali in his power TO keep the road
from being scrapped.
Mr. Church stated that he would
like to see 100 men subscribe to 81 900
Of the first bonds to make the $780,
900 necessary to swing the deal. OF
this amount s50.000 Is required to
meet the cash payment on the pur-
CHASE price and the remainder for ac.
-
Mr.. Church pointed out that while
the rolling stock is Of little value, the
people who put their money into the
proposal are getting 35 miles of rail.
road. the value of which Is conserva-
lively estimated at S1,0O0,000.
Holds Road Necessary.
Declaring that continuance OF the
service Is vitality necessary to the de-
veiopment of the northern section OF
the State, Mr.. Church expressed the
view that the road could be operated
on a profitable basis. With a tre-
mendous overhead, the revenues from
the service have been sufficient to
meet all operating expenses, Mr..
Church asserted. and added that he
had been reliably informed by cut
ting out some of the overhead, which
Is proposed If ownership becomes To-
calized. and by resorting to other eco-
nomical measures. such as putting on
one-man and smaller cars, operating
expenses could be curtailed 40 per
cent.
IF the people are financially inter-
ested in the road and are given the
cheapest and best possible service
they will supply the patronage" Mr..
Church said.
Scrapplng OF the line would work
irreparable damage TO Fairfax and
Arlington counties, Representative r.
Walton Moore declared in speaking in
favor Of the plan ior citizen owner
ship.
Question One OF Ability.
"There is just one concrete question
for us to decide" Mr.. Moore said,
land that is whether we are able to
raise 100000 by June /. when the
court confirms the sale and the option
held by Mr.. Church and Mr.. Keith
expires. I think we can and viii.
"If the people who will subscribe
to an interest in the railway were
instead making an outright gift OF
the money that the service be con.
tinued. 1 think they would be doing
wise thing" Mr.. Moore continued,
pointing out the possibility Of great
depression in realty values as result
of taking away the car service. Mr..
Moore predicted that with the project
ed economies, the road could be
operated at profit. G-
ION the other hand" he continued,
taking the most pessimistic view, II
the people failed in their attempt to
operate the road and 1t had to be
scrapped, money invested would not
be lost. There would still be the
scrapping value on the iron. copper
and real estate and IL Is safe to say
that the present owner would not
have acquired the road had the scrap.
ping value amounted to less than
$50. 000."
Mr.. Moore had previously subscribed
for 81 900 of the proposed bonds and
announced last night that he would
duplicate the order If it is needed.
Valued at S1,OOO.00
Mr.. Keith told the audience that II
the road had to be built today it would
cost 81 ,000, 900 and that the people
have the chance of getting ii at 10
cents on the dollar. He said that IL
the road is acquired ii will be a COM
munity enterprise and will be operated
entirely from that standpoint. III we
don't go into this thing" he continued,
hundreds of people will have no con-
venient means of transportation TO
the city, there will be a serious depre-
citation of property and we will lose
in population and business"
James Dueterman. division superin.
tendent of the Washington and Vir-
ginia railway, expressed the view that
the people would not go wrong in pur.
chasing the line. He predicted q
bright future for the service. giving
as his reasons a possible saving in
operating expenses; increased patron.
age through increased population and
localized ownership and the parking
conditions in Washington. which. he
said. are becoming more troublesome
every day and which will eventually
force owners to leave their machines
at home and use the street cars.
L. g. McNemar, president of the
Clarendon Citizens Association, who,
with Amos c. Crounse, made a futile
effort to block the sale of the railway
declared that IL the line In
scrapped the loss in real estate valtics
would be far in excess of what is put
rs a contribution.
Because of the congestion caused
oy automobiles, electric cars are fast
coming into their own, he said. He
also expressed the view that the line
could be put on a paying basis IL
he overhead is kept at a minimuin.
Charles T. Jesse, member OF the
Virginia House Of Delegates; State
Senator Frank l.. Ball, Maj. e. w.
r. Ewing. president of the Ballston
Citizens Association; Harris Levy,
banker of the county; Alan Pro-
Use, cashier of the Arlington Trust
Co.; C. A. S. Sinclair, former chief
Of the Washington & Vir-
yinia Railway, and others spoke in
avor of the proposition, pledging
heir moral and financial support.