New Britain herald., 1927-05-10
LINE TO M|DDLET0WN
 FINDS GOING ROUGH
Opposition Freely Express ed at Hearing in
 Berlin Today

The proposed Middletown, Herliu
 and New Britain bus line project
 suffered at hearing held this
 morning at the town hall in Berlin
 where prominent residents of the i three communities concerned spoke against the need of the proposed line. stating that they feared a re- trenchment of service on the N. Y.,
 \. H. X II. k. E. and the Connecti-
 cut Co. bus line which would ma- terially affect service to the three
 cities.
 E. T. Higgins. of the public utili-
 ties commission, who presided at
 the hearing. in sunmonlnE up the
 testimony stated to Attorney Phillip Dickenson. who represented the two
 petitioners. William J. Coggin and
 Fred C. Hall, that he would review the case but as his decision was
 based on the fundamental principles of public convenience and efficiency, he believed he would find it hard to recommend the franchise.
 Among those who testified against the proposed line were officials Of the N. Y., N Fl. x E. R., who show ed figures declaring that they were operating on an efficient schedule and that any bus line would be su- pertuous in that it would run par allel to already established routes and would necessitate a reduction III train schedules if put through. Of- ficials of the Connecticut company showed figures and maps regarding conditions from Berlin to New Brit ain and from Middletown to West field and claim that an extra bus line would interfere with their franchises and would be inefficient.
 C. F. Chase of Berlin Construc- ton Co. called the proposed service unnecessary, adding that he had rid den on the railroad line for S6 years and had found it efficient. John T. Hart. also of the Berlin Construction Co.,, corroborated Mr. Chase's remarks with an endorse ment of the present railroad service.
 J. F. Atwater. manager of trans portation for the American Hard- ware Corp. opposed the proposed line as unnecessary and feared re- trenchment by railroad interests if the franchise was granted. W. r. Spears of the N1iddletown Chamber of Commerce protested against the proposed move as he claimed he would rather see any extended serv- ice fostered by the Connecticut Co. or the New England Transportation Co. He added however, that he felt there was room for improve ment by the railroad in it's service. Thomas Hoops, chairman of the transportation committee Of the Middletown Chamber of Commerce endorsed Mir. Spears remarks.
 Two East Berlinites, G. II. Pol lard and Archie Walsh, claimed that the present system of transportation was adequate to East Berllns needs. P. J. Gaffney and Secretary R. H. Benson of the New Britain Chamber of Commerce appeared against the move. stating that the New Britain Chamber had voted against the granting of the franchise at last nights meeting Of the trans portation committee.
 Dickenson's case was further by the fact that his cll- ents had not filed any schedules, routes or rates. He hinted, in sum- ming up his case. that financial 1n- terests were the main speakers against the granting ot the tfahcfllse and that some of the witnesses might be under the influence of rall- road capital.