Evening star., 1936-07-17
HEAD OF GROUP
CITES SLOWNESS
ATb0ARD HEARING
professional Car Rider"
Voluntarily Takes Stand
TO Support Firm.
FORMER OPERATOR
DEFENDS NEW MOVE
Citizens Associations Send Rep.
resentatives to Express 0pposi.
tion to Extension.

Organized trainmen, representing
"a per cent of the platform employees
Of the Capital Transit Co., are opposed
to any extension of the use of one
man cars in the District.
This testimony was given the Public
Utilities Commission today by William
F. Simms, a conductor and president
Of the local division of the Amalga-
mated Association of Street and Elec-
trio Railway and Motor Coach Opera
tors Of America.
SimmS' particular objection TO one.
man cars is their slowness, as he de-
Scribed it, in loading and unloading.
AS a two-man operator, he said, his
run from Mount Pleasant to Thir-
teenth and D streets northeast has
been delayed as much as minutes
because a one-man car preceded his
on the tracks.
He also told the commission that
when he attempted to get three or
four men employed by the company
to testify today he was informed they
could not have the time of, because
there were no men on the extra"
list to relieve them.
Richmond B. Keech, acting chair
man Of the commission, said he
would hear them later in the day.
Simms has served as a conductor
for the company since 1919, he tes-
titled.
Henry F. Foulds, 1921 Thirtieth
street, who described himself as a
professional car rider" voluntarily
took the stand TO urge the commits
sion to extend the use Of one-man
cars.
Il make from 16 to l8 complete
trips day on the street cars" he
said, 'and have never seen an acci-
dent, a sticking door, or slowness on
the one-man cars. What the system
needs is more one-man cars"
Edward c. Spengman, former one
man operator, who testified for moro
than an hour and a half yesterday,
completed his testimony under cross.
examination this morning. He said
that Of eight accidents he had as an
employe of the Capital Transit Co.,
seven of them were while he was on
two-man cars and only one occurred
on one-man car.
z. w. Payne Of the Columbia
Heights Business Mems Association,
and David Babp, secretary Of the Fed
Grafton of Citizens Associations and
president of the Burroughs Citizens
Association told tho communication fha;u
organizations had gone on record
unanimously against further use of
one-man cars. Babp said he spoke
only for his local association.
Peoples Counsel William A. Roberts
questioned Sprengman at the outset
OF his testimony yesterday as to his
motives and it was testified that he
left the employment of the company
after inherit;ng an estate, which, Rob-
ertS showed, is an owner of CAPITAL
Transit stock
Roberts yesterday introduced r.
Ledger of the Rhode Island Ave-
nue. Citizens Association; Charles
M. Maize of the Kenilworth Citizens
Association; Sidney r. Katz, spokes-
man for the W. P. A. Lodge of the
American Federation of Government
Employees; Harry S. Wender of the
Southwest Citizens Association and
James c. Waters, 1904 Vermont ave-
nue., who spoke for the colored resi-
dents Of the city.
KatZ was told to file brief of argu-
ment against that Of the transit COM
paay after S. r. Bowen, general coun-
| sci. objected to testimony he termed
as argumentative.
The chief argument Of organized la
Dor as presented by william w. Keeler
Of the Central Labor Union and Katz,
was that extension of the one-man
car is, in effect, application Of the
"stretch-out" system, which means
the employment of one man to do
two mems work, using the same ma
terials and equipment.